page_title: VU University Medical Center
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: VU University Medical Center / History
caption_attribution_description: Photograph of Abraham Kuyper
context_page_description: VU University Medical Center Amsterdam is the university hospital affiliated with the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It is rated as one of the best academic medical centers in the country in terms of patient care and research. It is located next to Amsterdam's A10 ringway in the southwestern part of the city, next to the campus of the Vrije Universiteit and close to Schiphol airport.
  On 30 October 2015, researchers at the VUmc Cancer Center Amsterdam reported developing a blood test that, from a single drop of blood, can diagnose cancer with a probability of 97%, and about 6-8% probability of a false diagnosis, in healthy patients. Also since October 2015 the VUmc got the first MRIdian system in Europe, currently the most advanced radiation therapy system to treat tumors, because the system has a built-in MRI scanner to aim the radiation optimally.
context_section_description: VU University Medical Center Amsterdam was opened in 1964 as the Academic Hospital of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam(VU). This was made possible by the Vrouwen VU-hulp (English: Women VU help) charity, which was started in 1932 and aimed to support the Vrije Universiteit. Money was collected in the now iconic green tins with the likeness of Abraham Kuyper. These tins were distributed to families of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, specifically to the housewives of those families. After the end of the Second World War the charity's goal became to raise money to start a medical school. It took about 7 years before sufficient funds were raised, with the government footing 85 percent of the bill. Because of this, the idea that VUmc was funded by the 'kleine luyden' (English: little people) still exists today.
  VU University Medical Center Amsterdam was created in 2001 by the merger of the Academic Hospital of VU with the medical school of VU, nowadays called VUmc School of Medical Sciences. In June 2013 Wouter Bos was appointed as chairman of the board of directors of VU University Medical Center.
caption: Abraham Kuyper (1899)
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