The acronym TYKS is derived from the Finnish name of the hospital, Turun Yliopistollinen Keskussairaala. The local population recognizes the hospital by this short, apt nickname.

Today, Turku University Hospital is Finland’s oldest hospital that has been in operation continuously since its founding, having celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009. It can trace its history back to the charter signed by King Adolf Fredrik of Sweden on 17 December 1756; the hospital began to receive patients in May 1759. Since then, the hospital has operated continuously; it was subsequently made into a provincial hospital and in 1958 into a university central hospital.

Turku University Hospital provides specialist medical services in nearly all specialities, mostly at the Main Hospital in Turku. The Surgical Hospital in Turku and Paimio and Raisio Hospitals are also part of Turku University Hospital. T Hospital forms part of the Main Hospital.

Vakka-Suomi Hospital is also administratively part of Turku University Hospital, though functionally it belongs to the regional specialist medical care division. Its personnel, operations and finances are thus considered to be separate from Turku University Hospital.

About 4,100 of the Hospital District’s employees are at Turku University Hospital: 500 doctors, 2,400 nurses and other care personnel. The employees in psychiatry, laboratory, imaging, pharmacy, administration and other support services are generally not counted as Turku University Hospital personnel; instead, they come under their respective divisions and profit centres.

The regional hospitals’ maintenance and technical services personnel were merged with the Turku University Hospital maintenance and technical services personnel on 1 January 2009, following which they function as a district-wide profit centre.

Conservative Care and Operative Care Subdivisions

The operations of Turku University Hospital are divided into the Conservative Care and Operative Care Subdivisions.

The Conservative Care Subdivision includes the units for dermatology and venereal diseases, pulmonary medicine, clinical physiology, isotope medicine and PET, rehabilitation, paediatrics, neurology, internal medicine, oncology and other medical care. The last-mentioned of these includes the general practice unit and the hospital hygiene and anti-infection unit.

The Operative Care Subdivision includes the anaesthesiology, intensive care, emergency care and pain management units, the emergency clinic and units for physiatry; surgery; ear, nose and throat; obstetrics and gynaecology; orthopaedics and traumatology; ophthalmology; and oral and maxillofacial diseases.

The operating expenses of the Conservative Care and Operative Care Subdivisions in 2009 were EUR 192 million and EUR 165 million, respectively.

The hospitals of Turku University Hospitals have about 120 inpatient and outpatient wards altogether, with 867 at the beginning of 2010.

Turku University Hospital received about 102,000 patient referrals in 2009 but treated nearly 120,000 different individuals, because many patients visit outpatient clinics without a referral.

The number of treatment periods and of patient days has decreased in recent years and the number of outpatient appointments has increased as a result of systematic shifts in operating focus. Figures for the first quarter of 2010 indicate that this trend is continuing in the present year. 

The number of surgical procedures has decreased somewhat in recent years, due to a substantial decline in the number of surgery requiring inpatient care. In 2009, the number of ambulatory surgery procedures was up 7% on 2008, and the trend is expected to continue.

The discontinuing of deliveries at Loimaa Regional Hospital at the beginning of 2009 caused a clear increase in the number of births at Turku University Hospital: 4,112 births were recorded in 2009 as opposed to 3,992 in 2008.

Paimio Hospital, Raisio Hospital and the Surgical Hospital

In April 2010, the pulmonary medicine clinic transferred all its functions from Paimio Hospital to newly completed premises at the T Hospital in Turku. In the process, one outpatient clinic and one inpatient ward were discontinued. The pulmonary medicine clinic at the T Hospital now has three outpatient clinics and a total of 48 beds in two wards.

Paimio Hospital continues to run a rheumatology outpatient clinic, ward and operating theatre, a rehabilitation department and outpatient clinic, a laboratory, an X-ray unit, a physiatry department and a pharmacy.

The separate surgical and internal medicine wards at Raisio Hospital were merged into a joint ward in autumn 2009. The beds removed as a result of the merger were rented out to the basic health care services of the Town of Raisio. The new joint ward has 30 beds for internal medicine patients and 10 beds for surgical patients. The beds may be flexibly reallocated according to demand.

In addition to the joint ward, Raisio Hospital has a joint surgery and internal medicine outpatient clinic, an operating theatre, a laboratory, an X-ray unit and a pharmacy.

The Surgical Hospital houses most of the orthopaedics and traumatology clinic, an X-ray unit and a laboratory. The hospital has three orthopaedics wards, an outpatient clinic, an operating theatre and one surgical ward. Turku City Hospital and the main health centre of the City of Turku are located in the same area as the Surgical Hospital.

The T Hospital is the largest investment

Investments at Turku University Hospital have increased greatly in recent years, mainly because of construction at the T Hospital.

The new seven-storey D wing of the T Hospital was inaugurated in May 2009. The addition of two new storeys to B wing was completed at the beginning of 2010. There are three other additions forthcoming to the T Hospital, to be completed by the end of 2012.

Once finally completed, the T Hospital will have 108,000 sq.m of floor area and nearly 2,000 employees. The construction work and equipment acquisition of the enlargement will cost about EUR 200 million in all.

The T Hospital will house the joint emergency services for basic health care and specialist medical care in the Turku area. It will also house demanding acute treatment functions such as the treatment of neurology, surgery, cardiology and oncology patients and accident victims.

Once the T Hospital is completed, some of the older treatment facilities of Turku University Hospital will be decommissioned.

Turku University Hospital is now preparing for a substantial reorganization based on the lines of treatment to be introduced at the T Hospital. This new organization will be in place from the beginning of 2013.

Financial indicators (million EUR)	2009	2010 *
Operating income	416,2	413,3
Operating expenses	394,2	390,4
Investment cash flow (net)	43,4	53,7
Operating indicators	2009	2010*
Treatment periods	57,691	58,169
Patient days	243,142	245,439
Outpatient appointments	445,811	428,260
Surgical procedures total	29,152	30,300
*) Budget target 2010