About us

Résumé
For over 200 years, Hospices Civils de Lyon has been serving the inhabitants of Lyon with its medical expertise. The public service values driving its staff are a guarantee that all patients will be welcomed unconditionally and, as such, benefit from the best care and innovations that this major university hospital centre has to offer. Also involved in the city's economic, social and urban development, Hospices Civils de Lyon has a history inextricably linked to that of the city and contributes to its development. Hospices Civils de Lyon is particularly at the heart of the healthcare ecosystem of Greater Lyon, one of the major biotechnology and healthcare markets in Europe.

France's second university hospital centre

Hospices Civils de Lyon is France's second university hospital centre (CHU). HCL includes a staff of 24,000 of which 5000 are physicians and over 11,000 are nursing staff. It federates 14 facilities, including three predominantly general facilities providing emergency, medical and surgical services in a wide range of disciplines, seven specialist facilities and four geriatric facilities.

With scores of A to C, Hospices Civils de Lyon has risen to the rank of the first CHU in France to have such a high certification level. To date, no other hospital in France has exceeded level C.

In its capacity as a public hospital and university hospital centre, Hospices Civils de Lyon has several fundamental roles and its staff embodies the values of public hospital service.

Care

This involves providing all patients, indiscriminately and for all conditions, with access to care, 365 days a year and 24 hours a day. As such, care provision is based on:

  • proximity (care for common conditions),
  • referral (rare conditions or those requiring a high level of medical expertise). As such, HCL coordinates several national reference centres (rare lung diseases, cystic fibrosis, rare kidney diseases, rare disorders of sex development, etc.).

The healthcare facility certification process is mandatory in France, aimed at assessing organisation, operation, practices relating to care and respect of patients' rights.

It is conducted every four years by the French National Authority for Health (HAS) and covers activities having a direct or indirect impact on patient care: clinical, administrative, logistic services, etc.

Education

With its central position in the care offering, one of the roles of the university hospital centre is to transfer know-how. Therefore, HCL plays a vital educational role in the area of medical, pharmaceutical and dentistry studies.

Every year, HCL is involved in training:

  • 1850 students and 750 junior doctors, pharmacists and dentists, as well as future midwives.  As such, Hospices Civils de Lyon works together with the Lyon Est faculty of medicine, the Lyon Sud faculty of medicine and maieutics, the school of dentistry, the school of pharmacy and a technical institute of rehabilitation.
  • 1600 paramedical staff (nurses and specialist nurses, electroradiology technicians, healthcare managers) through eleven schools and institutes.

Clinical research

Research, a vital duty of any university hospital centre, is a key area at Hospices Civils de Lyon. It benefits from a long-standing tradition of excellence and, in Lyon, evolves in a particularly rich scientific and technological environment.

HCL possesses exceptional resources, through the number of researchers, support and partnerships with other structures and its cutting-edge equipment to drive excellence in research.

Hospices Civils de Lyon is particularly at the cutting edge in the following fields:

  • Ageing, frailty, neurodegenerative diseases
  • Infectious diseases
  • Cancer
  • Nutrition
  • Paediatrics
  • Heart, lungs, metabolic disorders
  • Transplantation

Numerous clinical trials are conducted, giving many patients an opportunity to benefit from innovative treatment not yet commercially available. 

Dernière mise à jour le :
Blocs libres