The Centre de Chirurgie Ambulatoire de Genève welcomes its first patient

Based on the goal of helping patients to regain their independence as quickly as possible, the mission of the Centre de Chirurgie Ambulatoire de Genève (CCAG) is clear: to offer a high-quality outpatient service to patients, starting on June 2. To achieve this, the Geneva University Hospitals (Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève – HUG) and the Hirslanden Group have joined forces in an unprecedented public-private partnership. The goal? To bring together the skills of the public and private sectors in a transformative project. This ambitious project demonstrates a genuine desire to respond in a coordinated and efficient way to the growing demand for outpatient surgery.

‘Outpatient surgery represents a major opportunity for our healthcare system: providing better care, as close as possible to the needs of patients,’ explains Robert Mardini, Director General of HUG. ‘Alongside the Centre de Chirurgie Ambulatoire de Genève, HUG and the Hirslanden Group are taking a decisive step together: to provide first-class medical care, buoyed by the complementary qualities of the public and private sectors. This synergistic alliance will benefit the entire population of the region, in terms of quality of care, innovation and economic efficiency. ’

Day case surgery is a question of volume. Flows need to be controlled in order to have a critical mass to optimise the use of infrastructure. Bringing together two major players ensures security in setting up an entity that will help develop the necessary transition from inpatient to outpatient care.

The CCAG is located in the neighbourhood of Plateau de Champel, a stone’s throw from HUG and Hirslanden Clinique La Colline. It is housed in a new building, custom-built by the Caisse de Prévoyance de l’État de Genève (CPEG), in collaboration with HUG, which share the premises with the CCAG.

Established on one floor measuring 2 800 m², the CCAG has 10 mixed surgery rooms that can accommodate all specialist fields.

Gilles Rufenacht, CEO of the Hirslanden Group, says: ‘The CCA is set to become a model of public-private partnership in Switzerland for the Hirslanden Group. We have been anticipating this move from inpatient to outpatient care for several years with the development of surgical centres dedicated entirely to outpatient care, under the OPERA banner.’

Standardised processes

The optimisation of operating room (OR) block scheduling, with the standardisation of procedures and the implementation of solutions allowing rapid rotations between cases, is a major challenge for outpatient facilities. This is reinforced by the introduction of packages established since 1 January 2026 as part of the tariff reform carried out by the OTMA (the Swiss national outpatient tariff organisation for service providers and insurers).

From 2 June 2026, outpatient surgery for HUG and Hirslanden Geneva will be performed at the Centre de Chirurgie Ambulatoire de Genève. Day cases will also be covered by interventions performed by independent surgeons based in Geneva, who will have the opportunity to be accredited to use the CCAG blocks.

Altogether, nearly 10 000 patients will be treated annually from the first year onwards in all surgical disciplines that can be practised on an outpatient basis, including abdominal surgery, orthopaedics, hand surgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, ENT, dermatological surgery, gynaecology, urology and analgesia (pain relief).

About the Centre de Chirurgie Ambulatoire de Genève (CCAG)

The Centre de Chirurgie Ambulatoire de Genève (CCAG) is the result of a partnership between the Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and the Hirslanden Group. It is a private limited company, equally owned by its two founding entities. The CCAG offers a technical platform dedicated to outpatient surgery. It has 10 operating theatres at its disposal, including 6 for standard surgical procedures, with the presence of an anaesthesiologist, and 4 for ‘quick’ surgery, for patients who can be treated entirely by the surgeon, for short procedures with only local anaesthesia. In total, nearly 10 000 patients will be treated every year at the site in most specialist disciplines, including abdominal surgery, orthopaedics, hand surgery, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, ENT, dermatological surgery, gynaecology, urology and pain relief.

More information is available at www.cca-geneve.ch/en

HUG: cutting-edge care, teaching and research

The Hôpitaux universitaires de Genève (Geneva University Hospitals – HUG) constitute the largest university hospital in Switzerland in terms of activity. HUG treats more than 255 000 people a year, provides some 2 100 hospital beds and employs 13 348 people. Its missions are care, training and research. HUG is the national reference centre for influenza, emerging viral infections, measles and rubella, meningococci, and the liver in children, as well as the national reference laboratory for histocompatibility. Its hospitals collaborate with WHO in six areas and are centres of competence in several sectors.

More information is available at www.hug.ch/en – Activity Report: https://panorama.hug.ch/

About the Hirslanden Group

Hirslanden is the largest private largest medical network in Switzerland. It comprises 16 hospitals in 9 cantons. It operates 6 day case clinics, 18 radiology institutes, 6 radiotherapy institutes, and medical and genetic analysis laboratories. Hirslanden treats around 115 000 inpatients per year and more than 700 000 outpatient cases per year, has 2 800 partner doctors and 11 000 employees.

Hirslanden guarantees integrated healthcare provision throughout the care pathway. The Group’s main medical expertise chiefly includes cardiology, oncology, orthopaedics and sports medicine, neurology, and care of the mother and child. With numerous service mandates in the field of highly specialised medicine, combined with academic activities, Hirslanden is one of the leading service providers of state-of-the-art medicine in Switzerland.