Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza
Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza was founded by Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo (Italy) and inaugurated in 1956. Known around the world as “Padre Pio’s Hospital”, it is a not-for-profit hospital nationally and internationally renowned for its high quality of care, state-of-the-art scientific research and, more than anything else, its commitment to care and compassion. The Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Hospital is part of the Italian National Health Service…
as a highly specialized "recognized religious hospital" and was officially designated as a Research Hospital (in Italian IRCCS – Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico) by decree of the Italian Ministries of Health and University and Scientific Research on July 16, 1991. In addition to providing clinical services, the hospital performs clinical research, particularly in the fields of genetics and hereditary diseases, working in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health and major research centers in Italy and Europe. This area of activity was further expanded by a decree issued on December 5, 2012, changing its recognized field from "Genetic and Hereditary Diseases" to "Genetic Diseases, Innovative Therapies, and Regenerative Medicine."
With the introduction of the Italian Legislative Decree of 23 December 2022 n. 200 on the Reorganization of Italian Research Hospitals and, consequentially, with the Decree of the Italian Ministry of Health of 23 October 2023, the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza is recognized a Research Hospital for the thematic areas of Oncology, Neurology and Diagnosis.
The hospital’s classification as a scientific institute represents both the official recognition and the operational fulfillment of the vision of its Founder. Over 60 years ago, in his inspired plan, Padre Pio had already foreseen that scientific research must be an integral part of the medical profession, particularly for the physicians of this institution, and a driving force in the advancement of medical science. Today, research activities are carried out within the Polyclinic "Giovanni Paolo II" and in the laboratories of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza – Mendel Institute in Rome. In 2015, the construction of the new ISBREMIT Research.
The Polyclinic “Giovanni Paolo II”
The Polyclinic “Giovanni Paolo II” is a healthcare facility located just 500 meters from the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Hospital. With its 25,000 square meters spread over seven floors—two of which are partially underground—it represents a further step forward in the completion of the “Hospital Citadel”, a vision dreamed of and desired by Padre Pio even during the initial construction phase of the Hospital itself...
The complex, inaugurated in 2002, was conceived and developed as part of a multi-year program for technological and organizational development aimed at making the healthcare services of Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza increasingly efficient and high-quality. The opening of this new facility has significantly improved access to outpatient services, making them more accessible while also enhancing overall hospital comfort. The planning and booking system for exams and specialist consultations has been completely redesigned with a focus on efficiency, through the creation of a Centralized Booking Center (in Italian: CUP – Centro Unico Prenotazioni ), which includes both a telephone contact center and front-office desks open to the public. Sixty new specialist outpatient clinics have been activated, all equipped with state-of-the-art technology. In addition, patient flows and hospital spaces for inpatients have been reorganized and optimized. Within the facility, Wi-Fi internet access is available in all the main waiting areas (reception and payment counters, inner courtyard, and the oncology day hospital waiting room). The system is fully managed using open-source technologies (Linux-based ZeroShell distribution – http://www.zeroshell.org), allowing patients and their companions to safely and freely access the internet at no cost.
ISBREMIT
A cutting-edge facility in terms of concept and equipment in the field of translational medicine for genetic, degenerative and oncological diseases. The facility hosts, among the highly technological laboratories, a cell factory and a laboratory for the production of biopharmaceuticals under Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), i.e. for clinical use, such as somatic stem cells and iPS, gene therapy vectors and biomaterials.
Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza-Mendel Institute in Rome
Founded in Rome by Prof. Luigi Gedda, the initiator of Genetics and Gemellology studies in Italy, and donated by him to the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza in 1997, it is home to an integrated service of clinical genetic counseling and advanced diagnostics of genetic pathologies and a specialist outpatient clinic.