After nine months of construction, a new central sterilization unit has been opened at HELIOS Hospital Dr. Horst Schmidt Kliniken in Wiesbaden, Germany. Up to 75,000 medical instruments will be cleaned and sterilized annually in the unit, for use in five HELIOS hospitals. The total investment was about €4 million.

Fresenius Helios acquires the municipal hospital in Velbert located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The hospital has 519 beds and, with approximately 1,000 employees, treats 45,000 patients each year, including 20,000 inpatients. Sales were approximately €67 million in 2014.

Fresenius Helios will fully own the hospital. Following the acquisition, it plans to invest in a new, state-of-the-art hospital building. The facility is an excellent fit with the company’s existing presence and activities in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The acquisition is subject to approval by the German antitrust authorities. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016, and the hospital will already be accretive to Fresenius Group earnings starting this year.

Fresenius Helios acquires the municipal hospital in Velbert located in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The hospital has 519 beds and, with approximately 1,000 employees, treats 45,000 patients each year, including 20,000 inpatients. Sales were approximately €67 million in 2014.

Fresenius Helios will fully own the hospital. Following the acquisition, it plans to invest in a new, state-of-the-art hospital building. The facility is an excellent fit with the company’s existing presence and activities in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The acquisition is subject to approval by the German antitrust authorities. The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016, and the hospital will already be accretive to Fresenius Group earnings starting this year.

Fresenius Helios is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the HELIOS ENDO Hospital in Hamburg. This specialist center for bone, joint and spinal surgery treats some 7,000 patients annually. More than 140,000 joint implant and replacement procedures have been carried out at the hospital since its opening in 1976. Over €100 million has been invested in the hospital's modernization in recent years, and a new outpatient surgical department is scheduled to open in mid-2016.

Fresenius Helios has started expanding the HELIOS Amper Hospital in Dachau, near Munich. Within two years a new, multi-story extension will be completed. The existing building that houses the patient wards will then be completely renovated. When all the work is finished in four years, the hospital will have about 100 additional beds. The total investment is about €55 million.

Fresenius Helios has presented the plan for its new main building at HELIOS Hospital Dr. Horst Schmidt in the German city of Wiesbaden. The seven-story structure, with total floor space of almost 100,000 square meters (more than 1 million square feet), will be built on an open site near the existing hospital building. Patients’ waiting times and the distances they need to cover will be significantly reduced in the new building, which will have 22 operating rooms and more than 900 beds. Construction is scheduled to start next spring, with completion in 2020. Building costs are estimated at around €200 million.

HELIOS Hospital Dr. Horst Schmidt, in the German city of Wiesbaden, will begin training about 160 students annually in nursing and other patient care occupations. The internal continuing education program for all employees now includes more than 2,000 different courses. HELIOS has invested about €3 million in new facilities for the training center, which will include seven modern teaching rooms, practice rooms, and a library.

The 66-bed hospital specializes in pulmonology, and will be affiliated to the nearby 540-bed HELIOS hospital Hildesheim. Closing of the transaction is expected April 1, 2015.