Aalst: (Brussels Morning) – Aalst is transforming Siesegem into a 52-hectare healthcare hub attracting companies, promoting innovation and boosting the economy with top-notch facilities and a focus on collaboration.
Aalst city is changing the Siesegem business park into a special care and health area. It will cover 52 hectares and only have companies in the care and healthcare fields. This plan aims to improve healthcare services encourage innovation and boost the economy. The hub will have top-notch facilities for healthcare companies like advanced medical centers, research labs, and specialized logistics services. By bringing these businesses together the city hopes to promote collaboration, knowledge sharing and partnerships to advance medical care. The hub will also include legal services, healthcare IT companies and bioinformatics firms to support the entire healthcare industry.
The Siesegem care and health hub project in Aalst will bring lots of jobs, investments and make Aalst a top healthcare center. They will focus on being eco-friendly and easy to reach. Aalst aims to lead in medical advances and create a healthy community for its residents boosting their well-being and prosperity.
What Partnerships and Investments are Driving Aalst’s Siesegem Healthcare Innovation Hub?
The city just made a big move by signing a letter with important people who want to invest in the local area. One of the main signers is the new combined hospital group AZORG focused on improving healthcare and maybe helping with medical research progress. Their participation shows they want to strengthen medical facilities and maybe bring new healthcare ideas to the city. The Zorginnovatiehub Aalst focuses on new healthcare ideas to improve medical technologies and services for the local area. Their involvement shows they want to bring modern healthcare practices to the city to make people healthier. Ghent University joining in means they want to work together to use their knowledge in healthcare and biotech research to create new and better healthcare solutions. These partnerships aim to push forward healthcare improvements and build better healthcare facilities in the city benefiting everyone living there.
The city plans to start in August and hopes to have an agreement by June 2025. They are working with the Flemish investment company PVM and the provincial POM and the city is also investing in the innovation hub. The project has grown with the interest from the hospital and universities like Ghent University and VUB. They are waiting for the environmental permit for the industrial area which has been delayed due to protests from locals. They expect a decision in October. Despite the delay they are still working on the project’s details. In the future they anticipate creating 1,500 new jobs.
