About us
The aims of the Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) are research in geriatrics, further education and training for professional groups working with elderly people and networking of all facilities in Ulm and the Alb/Donau district that treat and care for elderly people.
- Health care
The tasks include the holistic treatment and care of sick elderly people and the development and testing of primary and secondary preventive treatment concepts. The focus of the work of the Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) is on patients who are threatened in their independent living and have several, mostly chronic illnesses at the same time.
The prerequisite for this is close cooperation between the members of the various specialist groups at the Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) and the networking of outpatient, day-care and inpatient therapies.
The Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) develops methods and organisational forms for the specific geriatric assessment of individual cases, consultation services, therapy planning, including individual planning for rehabilitation, through to the assumption of outpatient therapy and care by doctors in private practice and the region's socio-medical services. The centre cooperates with retirement and nursing homes in the city and district.
- Training and further education
The Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) initiates and coordinates basic, further and advanced training courses with a special geriatric focus for students, trainees and employees working in this field.
- Patient information programmes
The Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) initiates and coordinates generally understandable information events on the topics of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illnesses and injuries in old age for the population of the city and district.
- Research in the field of geriatrics
The Geriatric Centre Ulm (GZU) can bundle the research activities of Ulm University Hospital and other partners in the field of geriatrics. As part of this interdisciplinary co-operation, specific questions can be investigated and answered in a well-founded manner. It is closely associated with the Institute for Geriatric Research at Ulm University Hospital, which is linked to the AGAPLESION Bethesda Clinic by a co-operation agreement and is headed by the GZU spokesperson, the Clinic's Medical Director. Click here to go to the institute: Geriatric Research | University Hospital Ulm (uniklinik-ulm.de)
This should be achieved through
- Increased interdisciplinary co-operation,
- targeted care of patients with certain clinical pictures within the framework of special consultation hours,
- a model implementation of findings from the research projects in retirement homes, clinics and other facilities.
- The following facilities belong to the Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU):
- AGAPLESION BETHESDA KLINIK Ulm with inpatient and outpatient facilities
- Ulm University Hospital for the acute care of special diseases of geriatric patients (Centre for Internal Medicine / Clinic for Internal Medicine I and II)
- Ulm University Hospital Clinic for Trauma, Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery with the Geriatric Traumatology Centre
- Ulm University Hospital Psychiatry and Psychotherapy III
- RKU - Ulm University and Rehabilitation Clinics specialising in orthopaedics and neurology
- Ehingen, Blaubeuren and Langenau hospitals of Krankenhaus GmbH Alb-Donau-Kreis
- Departments of Ulm University Hospital, the academic hospitals, other care and hospice facilities, cooperating rehabilitation facilities or doctors in private practice can become co-opted members of the Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) if they are involved in the direct or indirect care of geriatric patients or have a focus on geriatric research.
Rotation overview (PDF)
The Geriatric Centre Ulm (GZU) is managed by a steering committee. The members of the steering committee are
- the Medical Director of the AGAPLESION BETHESDA KLINIK Ulm as spokesperson of the committee
- the Medical Directors of the Centre for Internal Medicine / Clinic for Internal Medicine I and II of Ulm University Hospital
- the Medical Director of the Department of Psychiatry III of Ulm University Hospital
- the Medical Director of the Department of Trauma, Hand, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Ulm University Hospital
- the Medical Director of the Orthopaedic Clinic of the RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics Ulm
- the Medical Director of the Neurological Clinic of the RKU - University and Rehabilitation Clinics Ulm
- the Head Physician of the Geriatric Rehabilitation Department at Ehingen Hospital
- the nursing directors of the two clinics Bethesda and Uniklinikum
- the therapy managers of the Bethesda and University Hospital clinics
- the head of the office (medical secretary) in an advisory capacity
Prof Dr Michael Denkinger, Chief Physician and Medical Director of AGAPLESION BETHESDA KLINIK ULM, has been Chairman of the GZU Steering Committee since 2015. PD Dr Jochen Klaus from Ulm University Hospital, Internal Medicine, is currently responsible for managing the office.
The Geriatric Centre Ulm / Alb-Donau (GZU) was founded in March 1995 as a merger of various facilities. It has therefore been the first point of contact for clinics and all institutions providing care for the elderly in the city and district for over 20 years.
In 2012, Ms Katrin Altpeter, Minister of Social Affairs of the state of Baden-Württemberg, advocated that the elderly should also receive the highest level of medical care. In order to achieve this, more hospitals should set up geriatric treatment units in acute care in future. At the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Bethesda Hospital in Stuttgart, Altpeter said: "The hospitals are an important building block in our geriatrics concept, which is currently being revised." "Bethesda Hospital can look back on many years of experience in this field," praised Altpeter. In contrast to other federal states, Baden-Württemberg does not yet have a well-developed infrastructure of geriatric departments or treatment units at hospitals, according to the Minister. "I want to change that. After all, the hospitals can ensure a high level of care for geriatric patients." The new geriatrics concept is intended to describe hospital treatment, outpatient care and rehabilitation in Baden-Württemberg.
Together with experts, organisations and associations from the field of geriatrics as well as the State Seniors' Council, the Ministry of Social Affairs has therefore developed the Geriatrics Concept 2014, which was presented to the public on 25.04.2014. This concept describes the basic principles and fields of action of geriatric care. The central aim is to enable elderly people to live as long and as independently as possible. The aim is to create geriatric care for older people in our country that is organised close to where they live, based on outpatient rather than inpatient care, closely networked and consistently designed. Preventive care structures must be included as well as acute medical, nursing, rehabilitative and palliative care. Geriatric centres have been established at seven locations in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Freiburg, Ulm and Tübingen.
Publication Geriatrics concept of the state of Baden-Württemberg 2014
Publication Geriatrics concept Baden-Württemberg 2014 - updated appendix 2016
The rules of procedure of the Geriatric Centre Ulm were redrafted and adopted with a 2/3 majority on 15.06.2023.