Healthcare

Though Tilburg does not have a medical faculty, “health” and “care” are themes that already figured prominently in the early decades. The first PhD thesis on these topics, on the organization of social healthcare, appeared in 1950.

Hospital Policy

In 1961, the Tilburg internist and hospital director Jacques Scholte (1908-1984, picture) initiated a course on Hospital Policy, intended for “doctors, economists and nurses who hold executive positions in institutions for curative healthcare.” The success of this course helped the foundation in 1964 of a special professorship by the same name, taken up from the outset by the vigorous Stolte, who also had a courtyard in town named after himself.

While the course persisted, the chair was lost with government cutbacks in 1984. This was not without its effects, as, one year later, the united Brabant healthcare institutions (with many former course participants amongst their staff) decided to establish the Foundation for the Promotion of Scientific Education and Research in Healthcare (SWOOG). The Brabant health insurance companies and the Provincial Public Health Council also proved to be prepared to contribute to the institution of two professorships: one in the field of health psychology and the other in health economy.

Academic workplaces

In the late nineties, SWOOG managed to sway the University Board to institute a fully fledged research program. An initial five million guilder capital was raised, which facilitated the launch of Tranzo in 2000. In 2017, over 100 people in this TSB department were working on research projects that were mostly linked to academic workplaces, with healthcare institutions being involved.