Excellent performance levels were achieved in 2025 by the Azienda Ospedale University of Padua

The figures in the performance report, which every year highlights the organizational and individual results achieved against the planned objectives and resources used, place the Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova (AOUP) at an excellent level for 2025.

Last year, AOUP recorded an overall increase in activity compared with 2024. The overall volume of hospital admissions increased, reaching 68,559 in total, +1% compared with 2024; the number of operations, +2.8% compared with 2024, thanks in particular to outpatient surgical activity (+10.6%); the number of patients coming from outside the Region, +1.2% compared with 2024; Emergency Department - ED (Centrale + Sant’Antonio) visits, +2.3% compared with 2024. The increase in activity was also accompanied by a reduction in the average length of stay for ordinary admissions (from 7.45 days to 7.21) and by an increase in case complexity.

As regards outpatient specialist care, during 2025 AOUP worked significantly to support the local area by implementing an organizational model integrated with Azienda ULSS 6 Euganea.

In line with the Sixth Mission of the PNRR, moreover, the use of telemedicine showed a progressively upward trend. In 2025, Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova delivered 2,450 more services than in 2024. In addition, in collaboration with ULSS 6, the tele-visit pathway for renewing therapeutic drug plans directly at community pharmacies was successfully activated.

Lastly, in the surgical field, among university hospital companies with more than 700 beds, AOUP confirms its first place in the accessibility area for waiting-time indicators relating to hip prostheses, colon cancer, and lung cancer. 

The performance of the Emergency Department was also excellent, ranking as the best for length of stay (from admission to discharge) of those accessing it (8-hour threshold) and for walkouts.

Performance relating to quality of care was also excellent. Particularly noteworthy are some indicators such as femur fractures in patients over 60 operated on within 48 hours, low mortality for ischemic stroke, cholecystectomies with a post-operative stay of less than 3 days, the reduction in post-surgical infections, and compliance with timelines for donation-related indicators. Good performance was also recorded for the average length of stay of medical DRGs (Diagnosis-Related Group), reoperations within 30 days for colon and rectal cancer, and readmissions within 30 days after prostate cancer surgery. 

The use of antibiotics was also significantly reduced, falling from 94.1 daily doses per inpatient days in 2022 to 78.9 in 2025; this is an extremely important aspect, especially in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.

Healthcare construction
In 2025, the technical and economic feasibility design of the Nuovo Polo Ospedaliero di Padova Est San Lazzaro was completed, and the positive conclusion of the decision-making Service Conference, which gave the green light to the project, was also approved. 
As for the construction of the Nuovo Hospice Pediatrico, the launch of the procedure for awarding the works was ordered. 
Lastly, for the 7 Tesla project, the supplementary environmental investigations, the Site Characterization Plan, and the Risk Analysis for the via Orus site were completed. The technical and economic feasibility project was also acquired for the construction of the new building that will house the 7Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging unit in the area owned by the company in via Orus, in Padova.

IT area
Activities to develop the Electronic Health Record continued, with training initiatives for staff and a communication campaign dedicated to citizens, disseminated mainly through social media.

During 2025, several initiatives were launched to strengthen cybersecurity and improve the protection of the company’s IT resources, also through the preliminary activities required for the adoption of the new procedures.

Equal opportunities
Lastly, in the area of equal opportunities, promoting the well-being of employees and combating discrimination, AOUP committed itself to organizing and actively participating in numerous initiatives both to promote gender equality and to improve the well-being of employees (establishment of a psychological support desk for staff, implementation of attraction and retention strategies, enhancement of skills, supplementary welfare, initiatives including the provision of specialist consultations).