Constitutive Meeting of Charité’s New Supervisory Board

Gratitude Expressed towards Charité Employees for their Dedication and Commitment During the Corona Pandemic

The fifth Charité Supervisory Board was constituted last Friday. Due to the current situation, the meeting was held by video conference. Supervisory Board members provided detailed information on measures taken to combat the corona crisis and expressed their gratitude for the commitment and dedication of Charité staff.

The composition of the brand new Charité Supervisory Board will remain in place for the next five years. The Board presently consists of thirteen voting and four non-voting advisory members. In his capacity as Senator for Science and Research as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller stressed: "The Charité’s diverse and comprehensive medical expertise means that it plays a leading role both within Berlin’s science and healthcare scene and across the whole of Germany. This is evident on a daily basis but particularly now in the midst of the current corona crisis. Only recently, the German Federal Government entrusted the Charité with the coordination of the new National Research Alliance For Combating COVID-19. This decision once again underscores the crucial national role played by the Charité. All the more reason for me to thank all members of the new Supervisory Board for their willingness to support this truly outstanding institution on its path to becoming an internationally prominent university hospital in teaching, research and healthcare. I look forward to our continued cooperation".

 On Friday, Supervisory Board members elected Irmtraut Gürkan, former Managing Director of Heidelberg University Hospital and an experienced expert on the German university medicine system, to the position of Deputy Chairperson of the Supervisory Board: "As the institution at the forefront of German university medicine, the Charité plays a crucial role beyond the frontiers of Berlin and indeed of Germany. This is particularly clear in the context of the current pandemic. Reports presented at the Supervisory Board meeting highlight the Charité's numerous initiatives to tackle coronavirus and the tireless commitment of its staff. This is very impressive. As members of the Supervisory Board, we wish to play our part in supporting Charité wherever we can".

In its constituent meeting on Friday, the Supervisory Board passed numerous resolutions ensuring Charité's organizational structure and economic capacity will allow it to continue its work to combat coronavirus.

Members of the Supervisory Board

Berlin Senate Members:

• Michael Müller, Governing Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Science, Chairman of the Supervisory Board
• Dr. Matthias Kollatz, Berlin’s Senator for Financial Affairs

External experts appointed by the Berlin Senate:

• Prof. Dr. Michael Baumann, Professor at the Dresden University of Technology, Chairman and Scientific Director of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)
• Irmtraut Gürkan, Political Economist, most recently Hospital Business Director of Heidelberg University Hospital
• Prof. Dr. Denise Hilfiker-Kleiner, University Professor and Dean of Research of Hannover Medical School (MHH), Member of the German Council of Science and Humanities
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reimund Neugebauer, University Professor at the Chemnitz University of Technology, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft e. V.
• Stefan Oelrich, Member of The Bayer AG Board of Management and Head of the Pharmaceuticals Division, Member of the Supervisory Board of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH)

A recent change in law means that two university professors appointed by the Charité Faculty Council as well as one jointly appointed President of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin now also belong to the AR:

• Prof. Dr. Martin E. Kreis, Medical Director Department of General, Visceral and Vascular Surgery, Campus Benjamin Franklin
• Prof. Dr. Adelheid Kuhlmey, Science Director CharitéCenter Health and Human Sciences CC1, Director of the Institute of Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Science
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Sabine Kunst, President of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

In addition, the Supervisory Board has three members who are elected by direct secret ballot by full-time Charité employees. The elected representatives are:

• Ulla Hedemann, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pulmonology, Immunology and Critical Care Medicine
• Prof. Dr. Jörg-Wilhelm Oestmann, Department of Radiology (including Pediatric Radiology) Campus Virchow-Klinikum
• Dr. Paul Ritschl, Department of Surgery Campus Charité Mitte / Campus Virchow-Klinikum

In addition, Charité’s Central Counsellor for Women’s Affairs and Equal Opportunities, a member of the General Staff Council, a member of Charité’s Disabled Persons' Representative Body (for the first time) as well as a member of the Faculty Council Students’ Group serve as non-voting advisory members of the Supervisory Board:

• Dr. Christine Kurmeyer, Women's and Equal Opportunities Commissioner at the Charité
• Bernd Marquardt, Chair of the Central Staff Committee
• Dr. Ulrike Pohling, Person of trust of the representation of severely disabled persons
• Raphael Raspe, Member of the Group of Students of the Faculty Council

Contact

Manuela Zingl
Unternehmenssprecherin
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
t: +49 30 450 570 400