Future Health

Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg (ZOL) is a large general hospital in the east of Flanders. It was established in 1995 after the merger of three hospitals and expanded in 2021 through the integration of ZOL Maas en Kempen. ZOL is currently the largest hospital in Limburg, with four sites located in Genk, Maaseik, and Lanaken. The hospital offers both basic and specialized care. ZOL’s mission is to provide accessible, high-quality, and innovative care to a broad region, in collaboration with partners within and beyond the healthcare sector.

In 2015, Future Health was established at ZOL with the aim to bring clinical research closer to the patient. There were many innovative ideas within the hospital, but they often lacked the environment to grow. Future Health is the ZOL platform where clinical care bridges with research, education, and entrepreneurship, with a continuous focus on quality, innovation, and patient-centered care. External parties – from young start-ups to international R&D institutions – also showed interest in collaborating with ZOL but struggled to find their way. Future Health provided a clear point of contact, a flexible structure, and an ecosystem that connects healthcare, industry, and research.

In a changing healthcare landscape, it is crucial for hospitals to respond to new trends. The increasing aging population and the growing number of patients with chronic conditions require an innovative approach. Technology and big data offer new opportunities to improve care. ZOL aims to position itself as the preferred partner for new players in the healthcare market. Future Health plays a key role in this by creating synergies, pooling expertise, and exploring new domains.

Over the past years, Future Health has served as a bridge-builder between the hospital and the outside world. There is structural collaboration with academic partners such as UHasselt, Jessa Hospital, and ZOL within the Limburg Clinical Research Center (LCRC), the Mobile Health Unit (MHU), and the Remote Clinical Monitoring Center (RCMC). The MHU focuses on research and implementation of telemonitoring. The digital research platform DHARMA, established within the MHU, allows for the study of the impact of telemonitoring. For example, the PREMOM project investigates whether technology can improve pregnancy outcomes for women at increased risk of preeclampsia.

There are also structural collaborations with external research partners, public organisations and (start-up) companies such as POM, Health Campus Limburg, Extra Horizon, Qbic, Qompium, Bloomlife, Ectosense, and DEO.care. This includes applied research, participation in conferences, and organizing events. For many of these research projects, funding is obtained through the professional support of the grant office. The grant office of Future Health serves as a focal point for grant enquiries, assists in finding grants, submitting applications, and preparing budgets.

Clinical Trial Unit

Within Future Health, a Clinical Trial Unit (CTU) was established and has been recognized since 2017 as the first non-university CTU with funding from the KCE Trials Program. Some key studies in which ZOL took the leading role as organising centre:

• ADVOR: groundbreaking research on a new treatment for heart failure, published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
• PRECISE: study in Belgian and Dutch hospitals on high-protein nutrition in critically ill patients, published in The Lancet.
• PRIORI: study on the role of the vaginal microbiome in preterm birth.
• CONGENIUS: evaluation of radio frequency pain therapy for chronic knee pain after prosthesis.

The CTU hereby provides overall coordination of these studies, both inside and outside ZOL, ranging from project management, database management, monitoring and budget management. Future Health can also leverage this expertise in external collaborations as a service provider.

In October 2024, the Vaccination Trial Unit (VTU) was opened as part of the CTU. In this research center, new or improved vaccines are tested for efficacy and safety. In this way, ZOL contributes to the prevention of infectious diseases and the development of effective vaccines.

Future Outlook

Future Health aims to further expand its external services. In 2025 Future Health launched their own 3D lab for medical and non-medical applications in the care environment. The lab will be a breeding ground for innovation. In 2025, the ZOL 3D lab was officially recognized by the FAMHP as an ‘in-house manufacturer’ and ‘custom manufacturer’.

“From a systemic ecosystem approach, we are building a sustainable structure in which collaboration, knowledge sharing, and joint strategy are central. This is how we make Limburg a region where healthcare innovation not only originates but also grows and yields results – for patients, healthcare providers, and entrepreneurs,” concludes Arne Janssen.