Community giving delivers a new transplant centre in Genoa

Residents of Italy’s Liguria region have helped fund an entire new stem cell transplant centre at Genoa’s San Martino hospital, an investment of more than €2.5 million.

The completed unit was unveiled on 18 September after ten months of construction. It is expected to begin treating patients in the coming months, once the necessary certifications are issued.

The centre was donated by the Genoa, Savona and Imperia branch of AIL, an Italian leukaemia charity. For the first time in the hospital’s history, a volunteer organisation has delivered a finished healthcare facility, from planning through to furnishing, rather than only funding equipment or fitting out a ward.

Behind the project were donations from local people and fundraising efforts involving walks, Easter eggs and poinsettias. Bank Intesa Sanpaolo also supported the work, while businesses contributed furniture, technical components and professional services free of charge.

The new centre will also make room for a wider reorganisation. An inpatient ward that AIL created elsewhere at the hospital in 2018 will move into the same building as the transplant centre. That will bring the hospital’s blood-disorder services together in one place, extending the impact of the community’s gift beyond the new unit itself.