The Neonatal Surgery Unit of the Mangiagalli-Policlinic Hospital has become, over the past few years, a point of reference at a regional as well as a national level, reaching an average of 130 newborns treated every year. This number puts the Policlinic Hospital as the facility with the highest yearly number of cases treated in Italy.

On top of that, given their high level of expertise, doctors from the facility are often called on to consult on neonatal pathologies being treated in various hospitals around the Milan area, as well as throughout the whole region of Lombardy. Examples of facilities that have called upon the Policlinic’s doctors to consult are the Saint Gerrard Hospital of Monza and the Saint Anne Hospital of Como.

It is a point of pride for us to have played a small part in the Policlinic establishing itself as such a distinguished facility, through projects such as the ECMO Project and the Fetal Surgery Project. Even for a facility of the Policlinic’s stature, however, the work never stops - there are always new heights to reach. This can mean, for example, taking advantage of the latest technological advancements in the field of Neonatal Surgery, or mastering new, cutting-edge techniques. Reaching these goals, however, requires a structured, all-encompassing approach – this is the context within which the “Academy Project " was born.

The main goal of this project is to support, with some other charities having the same purpose, the development of the recently-established “Accademia Policlinico: Neonatal and Pediatric Surgery School  and Fetal Therapies”, which will have, for the first few years at least, a focus on fetal surgery. The Academy’s main goals for the next few years can be summed up as follows:

• It will help maintain the level of excellence of the fetal health care provided by the Policlinic, through the acquisition or mastering of the latest techniques to treat congenital defects such as, for example, spina bifida (myelomeningocele).
• It will support training activities for doctors aimed at the creation of a “Fetal Center”, which will help promote medical knowledge in the field of fetal surgery, thus contributing to the formation of professionals operating throughout the province of Milan and beyond.

These objectives will be pursued through a number of different activities, such as:

• The establishment of scholarships or contracts for researchers;
• Financing the attendance to stages or courses for medical and nursing professionals;
• The establishment of training courses or scientific events (such as Workshops or Conventions) focused on themes of fetal and neonatal care;
• Enabling professionals to receive specialist advice on specific cases;
• Organizing tutoring and educational activities in foreign facilities in order to pursue the adoption of similar organizational models;
• Purchasing cutting-edge tools in order to help maintain the level of excellence reached in the care offered at the Policlinic.

Initiatives such as, but not necessarily limited to, the ones above, will allow the Mangiagalli-Policlinic facility to become even more of a point of reference in the fields of neonatal and fetal surgery, at a national as well as at an international level. At the same time, these initiatives will also have a meaningful impact on the local community, which is in perfect synergy with one of our Organization’s main objectives. Cieli Azzurri, in fact, has a particular interest in initiatives that focus on the mother and child’s healthcare at a local level, thus having a very direct and real impact on the community that we operate in.

It is our opinion, then, that this project will stand as another important building block in the strong, long-standing relationship that we have built with the IRCSS Ca’ Granda Foundation, while also falling right in line with our Organization’s core principles and objectives.

We are incredibly excited to be launching this project, and we truly hope that we will be able to count on your support moving forward. For more information about how you can contribute to this project, we invite you to visit the “What You Can Do” section of our website, and to specify “Academy Project” when prompted.