Greetings

The Saitama Medical Center was opened in Kawagoe City in 1985 as the second University Hospital for the Saitama Medical University, and more than 30 years have passed since its opening. The environment surrounding medical care has changed drastically with the details and the technology of medical treatments rapidly progressing and developing. Our hospital has been working to improve various medical systems in order to respond to these changes.

First, as an introduction to the outline of our hospital, the number of beds is 1,053 (currently, the number of actual usable beds is 918 due to renovation of the wards), with a more than a 90% occupancy rate. There are about 2,000 outpatient patients per day, and the number of physicians is in the 400s, with the staff numbering more than 2,000 people.

The biggest feature of our hospital is that with all of the medical departments, we are equipped to handle all kinds of diseases and injuries, which corresponds to a "Super General Hospital." In addition to actively tackling the 5 Diseases of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (cancer, myocardial infarction, stroke, diabetes, and psychiatry) and the 5 projects (emergency medicine, perinatal care, pediatric medicine, disaster medicine, rural medicine), in recent years we have enhanced the emergency medical care system and developed and strengthened the functions of various designated medical institutions such as the Base Hospital for Cancer Treatment Collaboration and the Intractable Disease Cooperation Hospital, advancing the hospital functions. We have grown and developed with the local community as a general hospital that plays a core role in the region.

Specifically, we have opened a variety of "clinic" centers, which are operated in cooperation by a number of departments and staff. In January 2013, we increased the Center for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine, in January 2016, the new Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine building was completed, and in March of the same year, we opened the first Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Saitama Prefecture. After that, we have expanded or newly established the Endoscopy Center, the Blood Purification Center, the Outpatient Chemotherapy Center, the Department of Neuro-endovascular Therapy, the Ultrasound Center, and the Organ Transplant Center, etc. These centers make it possible to cooperate beyond the barriers of the medical departments and in addition, it is a concrete realization of multi-occupational cooperation.

Also, in addition to the previous Infection Control Room, the Medical Safety Room, the Bedsore Measures Room (WOC control room), etc., we newly opened or expanded the Cancer Care Support Office, the Palliative Care Promotion Office, the Patient Support Office (Medical Welfare Counseling Office, the Cancer Counseling Support Center, the Admission and Discharge Support Office), the Genetic Counseling Office, and the Intractable Disease Support Counseling Office, and we strive to provide safe and secure, high-level medical care to our patients.

We started renovation work on the meal facilities and the ward and medical departments, rehabilitation departments, radiology departments, the Department of Clinical Engineering and kitchen facility in 2016 for enhancement of the recuperation environment. Also, in January 2018, a tea house (convenience store and a coffee complex) was opened on the 3rd floor of the main building, and we are working to improve the environment so that patients can spend their time a little more comfortably.

In addition, we completed the management building which is fully equipped with a general medical office, the training medical facilities, and the conference room, etc., and a second research building for the purpose of expanding the research space, to enhance education and research functions as a university. We are also working to enhance the overall functions of the Medical University as well as the medical departments.

The basic philosophy of our hospital is "To provide safe and high quality medical care and aim to be a trusted medical institution in the region." And, in order to realize that, as a hospital of Saitama Medical University Group, we want to continue to be a facility that can contribute significantly to the development of medical care in Saitama Prefecture as well as in Japan with a flexible response to changes in the social environment and in close cooperation with local hospitals and clinics to contribute to local medicine.

Your Happiness is Our Happiness.

The Saitama Medical University Group was started in 1892 as the Moro hospital as base by the first director, Kiyotaro Maruki in the area of Moroyama. Since then, for 120 years, we have consistently aimed to provide "Patient Centered Medicine," as one of the important issues of "enhancing community health care."

In 1972, it continued as the Saitama Medical University Affiliated Hospital (currently Saitama Medical University Hospital) which was established at the same time as the opening of the Saitama Medical University, and in 1985, Saitama Medical Center was established in Kawagoe as the second hospital of the Medical University. After that, the International Medical Center was established in Hidaka City in 2007 and three hospitals continue to develop the practice of advanced medical care, being a place for research, a place for practical clinical physician training and is a high-level general hospital responsible for local medicine with your support and cooperation.

Since the opening of the Saitama Medical Center, we have always aimed to have the latest and the highest level of medical care. Today, we have one of the largest Centers for Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine and Departments of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine nationwide. In addition, we have grown into being a general hospital that provides the only medical helicopter service in the prefecture.

Many of the patients who use it are residents in Kawagoe City, and we help to enrich local medical care as a hospital for Kawagoe citizens and as one of the largest general hospitals in the prefecture. In addition, we also serve as a hospital that is responsible for the safety of the Saitama citizens as the center of Perinatal Medicine and Emergency Medical Care in Saitama Prefecture.

The Saitama Medical University has a slogan of "Your Happiness Is our Happiness," heading into 2022 and the 50th anniversary of our founding. Our goal is to create a utopia that combines medical care and welfare. Our hospital is also launching a renewal centering on the main building in order to fulfill that goal. I think that this might be an inconvenience for everyone who will visit the hospital for the time being, but we are confident that we will be able to deliver more peace of mind and safety to the residents and citizens of the city when the renewal has been completed.

Currently in Japan, the environment surrounding medical care, welfare and education is becoming more severe than ever with an aging population and declining numbers of children. We will make every effort to become a hospital loved by everyone in the community and the people of Saitama Prefecture more than ever.

Thank you for your further guidance and encouragement.