From Monday, February 28th the Orthopaedic Rehabilitation Centre of the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute at Argenta Hospital officially opens. It was born from the collaboration between the IOR and the USL of Ferrara in order to create an integrated orthopaedic network on the territory to ensure excellent care close to the patient and consequently to minimize health mobility.

The new functions of Orthopaedics, Traumatology and Rehabilitation of the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute at the Argenta Hospital will treat, in full cooperation with the equivalent services of the Ferrara AUSL and with the AUSL Operating Units and Services present at the Hospital, general orthopaedic pathologies (primary prosthetic surgery and re-implantation, upper limb surgery, arthroscopic knee and shoulder surgery, spinal pathology) and will provide assistance and care for traumatised patients.

Following the activation of the orthopaedic ambulatories with specialists from the Rizzoli Hospital in November which has led to a waiting list for operations that currently includes 230 patients, everything is ready for the beginning of the surgical activity.

The research and teaching vocation of the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, IRCCS and home of the University of Bologna's Orthopaedic Clinic and the School of Specialisation in Orthopaedics and Traumatology, will be fully included and will collaborate in the didactic area in the surgical preparation of Orthopaedics and Traumatology trainees.

"The value of this collaboration project lies in the fact that it combines two fundamental aspects of healthcare: on the one hand, the ability to provide cutting-edge and highly complex services, and on the other, the ability to take care of users at a local and proximity level," Regional Council Member for Health Policies Raffaele Donini told during the press conference.

"The project is a clear example of this double track, an approach that demonstrates the ability to think and operate flexibly in order to provide concrete answers to emerging problems," continues Donini. " In this case we are in front of two branches of the Regional Health System, a local health service and an IRCSS, which join forces in order to serve the citizen, each making the most of the peculiarities and strengths of the other. I am convinced that this is an example that should increasingly be followed and that will produce excellent results.

"The mission of a health service is to provide the highest possible quality, timely and proximate responses to the health needs of its citizens," says Monica Calamai, General Director of the AUSL of Ferrara. In the province of Ferrara, many patients who needed orthopaedic surgery chose to have it in structures located outside the province and even outside the region.

"We have therefore decided to set up a project aimed at providing highly complex services in the Ferrara area, and we have been able to do so thanks to our collaboration with the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute of Bologna, a historic and recognised healthcare excellence," concludes director Calamai.

"We have worked with strong commitment to the realization of the Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Centre in Argenta, which puts into practice the idea of the 'Rizzoli diffused' - explains Anselmo Campagna, General Director of the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute: our Institute brings its specialization as IRCCS (Institute for Hospitalization and Scientific Care, which is a research hospital) by working with the Health Service of Ferrara in a project of healthcare to serve citizens in their territory. We will thus guarantee highly complex services, thanks also to a dedicated anaesthesia facility that responds to the particular characteristics of the orthopaedic and rehabilitation surgical pathway".

"The implementation of this orthopaedic centre is an important response to the needs of citizens - confirms the mayor of Argenta Andrea Baldini -. In these past months I have been lucky enough to work with capable and resolute people who have brought a project of absolute value here. At the Mazzolani-Vandini hospital, a partnership is being set up that will enhance the offerings of this province and this region. It is a reason for pride to be able to sit here today together with the Assessor Raffaele Donini to see the birth of this important project in which the Regional Council has strongly believed, and to which fundamental resources will be dedicated for the redevelopment of the entire hospital".

The conference was also attended by Roberto Bentivegna, director of the Presidium Medical Department, Andrea Tognù, head of Anaesthesia and Reanimation, Silvana Sartini, director of the Physiatry and Rehabilitation Unit and Matteo Romagnoli, director of the Orthopaedics Unit.

The Project

When fully operational, the project will provide

• Use of 46 beds distributed as follows (when fully operational):
  • Orthopaedics and Traumatology Department with 28 beds for ordinary hospitalisation and day surgery
  • Post-operative intensive care unit with 4 beds
  • Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with 8 beds
  • Orthogeriatrics and perioperative medicine ward with 6 beds
• Activation of orthopaedic ambulatories at Argenta and in the Ferrara area
• Activation of ambulatories with anaesthetists for pre-admission and perioperative pain management
• Setting up of ambulatories with a physiatrist for specialist assistance on an ambulatory/day service rehabilitation basis
• Use of the operating block with 4 operating theatres

Operating Units and Simple Structures

During the last months, the following have been set up:

• UOC of Orthopaedics and Traumatology: the Operative Unit takes charge of the entire patient pathway from the first visits to the post-patient follow-up. It will also provide advice to the General Emergency Room.
• UOC of Rehabilitation: it carries out rehabilitation activities in ordinary inpatient and ambulatory regimes for post-operated patients
• SS of Anaesthesia: it guarantees all the activities supporting the surgical pathway.

Staff numbers when fully operative: 128
Doctors: 28 (13 orthopaedists, 10 anaesthetists, 5 physiatrists)
Nursing staff/health professions assigned IOR: 100 (65 nurses, 8 physiotherapists, 27 OSS)
Project launch
Since 30 November 2021, the IOR Argenta orthopaedic ambulatories have been active (5 days a week from Monday to Friday) and a waiting list has been created and managed.
At the moment there are about 230 patients on the list.

Since 28th February, 20 orthopaedic beds have been available in the inpatient unit on the ground floor.

• 1 operating session in the morning and afternoon from Monday to Friday
• Anaesthetist present at 12 o'clock from Monday to Friday for operating room and recovery room activities, pre-hospitalisation, consultations with IOR patients, consultations with patients admitted to the medical unit (AUSL FE department)
• Consultation activities in the emergency room from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

The surgical programme for the first week includes prosthetic operations, ligament repair and removal of synthetic aids.