Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies
ISMETT, located in Palermo, is a specialized hospital managed and operated by the UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) in partnership with the Region of Sicily. The mission of the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies is to offer the highest levels of medical treatment, technology and care to the people of the region of Sicily and of the Mediterranean Basin.
ISMETT provides transplantation and other highly specialized medical therapies, and serves as a model of a public and private sector partnership in Italy meeting the highest standards in the world. Combining the experience and dedication of the UPMC with those of two leading health care facilities in the region, ISMETT offers state-of-the-art care in the cultural context of the local medical community.
The Institute’s new facility houses an Outpatient Clinic, 4 operating rooms, 70 inpatient beds (42 on the floor – 4 VIP rooms, 14 in the comprehensive Intensive Care Unit, and 12 in the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit), as well as dedicated space for radiology, infectious disease, pharmacy, dialysis and pathology services. The most advanced technologies have been installed, from equipment for diagnostic imaging to state-of-the-art equipment necessary for interventional radiology. All patient rooms are provided with the electronic medical record system, a television, private bathroom and air-conditioning.
Palermo: a Cultural Crossroads of East and West
Palermo is the capital of Sicily, and the fifth largest city in Italy, with 660,000 inhabitants in the city limits, and a population of over a million if we include the outlying suburbs. In the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Palermo - a cradle of ancient civilizations - has always been a crossroads of cultures for East and West: a strategic point of transit, a privileged port of call for commerce and trade, and a landing place for people of various races, languages, and religions. In addition, Palermo has always enchanted visitors with the charm of its location, the mildness of its climate, and the splendor of its architecture. It has also, over the centuries, been dominated by a succession of different rulers.
Palermo is one of the few cities in the world that has preserved significant traces of the cultures of its conquerors. Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Svevians, the French, Spaniards and Austrians have all left distinctive marks of their passing, offering invaluable testaments to the convergence of different styles and forms, from the North of Europe to Africa, and from the Middle Ages to the Baroque period. This convergence has given birth to a variety of absolutely original artistic, architectural, and decorative creations.
Palermo is also characterized by the fact that, despite its mixture of different cultures, it has managed to maintain its identity as a capital, and has always succeeded in combining the best of what other nations could offer with its own people’s desire for freedom.
