HEALTHCARE: MINISTER SCHILLACI SIGNS THE DECREE RECOGNISING THE PUBLIC IRCCS IN ALESSANDRIA-CASALE MONFERRATO

Piedmont’s first public Scientific Hospital and Care Institute is established.

Minister Schillaci: ‘An important achievement for Piedmont, but also for the entire Italian healthcare system’

President Cirio and Councillor Riboldi: ‘A historic achievement for our region; we are aware that this is a starting point, not a finishing line’

The Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, in agreement with the President of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio, has signed the decree recognising the SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo University Hospital in Alessandria as a Scientific Institute for Hospitalisation and Care (IRCCS).

This is a historic achievement for Piedmont, which for the first time has a public IRCCS and joins the national network of Scientific Institutes for Hospitalisation and Care with a facility that will serve as a centre of excellence for research, innovation and highly specialised healthcare.

This recognition comes at the end of a process that officially began in 2019 with the first regional planning initiatives and was built up through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Health, the Piedmont Region, the Alessandria University Hospital Trust, the Department of Integrated Research and Innovation Activities (DAIRI), the University of Eastern Piedmont, ASL AL, healthcare professionals, local administrators and representatives of the local area.

Over the years, the path towards this recognition has garnered the support of local and regional institutions, the Province of Alessandria, local municipalities, associations and the Piedmont Regional Council, transcending political affiliations and divisions and uniting the region around a shared goal of scientific and healthcare advancement.

The roots of the Alessandria-Casale Public IRCCS lie in the history of the Province of Alessandria and, in particular, of Casale Monferrato, a region symbolic of the fight against asbestos and asbestos-related diseases. From that tragedy, a wealth of scientific knowledge, clinical expertise and research capabilities has emerged over the years, which today receives the highest national recognition.

The Alessandria-Casale Public IRCCS is also founded on the experience of DAIRI, the Department of Integrated Research and Innovation Activities, to which the Piedmont Region has assigned the role of regional support for the organisation of health and biomedical research within Piedmont’s healthcare trusts. This model has enabled the development over the years of a network of collaborations involving the entire regional healthcare system, which can now be further strengthened thanks to this ministerial recognition.

In particular, recognition has been granted in the thematic area of ‘Cardiology-Pulmonology’, as provided for in the decree signed by the Minister of Health, Orazio Schillaci, within which the activities developed in the field of environmental diseases and mesothelioma are specifically included; this is an area in which the Alessandria and Casale Monferrato regions represent one of the most advanced centres at both national and international level.

These include the Biological Bank of Malignant Mesothelioma, one of the most important European collections in the sector, and the Regional Centre for Research, Surveillance and Prevention of Asbestos-Related Risks, a truly integrated ecosystem of care and clinical-epidemiological research, based within the DAIRI.

With this recognition, Piedmont also joins the select group of regions hosting a public university IRCCS.