San Raffaele Hospital is a multidisciplinary university medical center officially recognized as the best hospital in the country by the Italian Ministry of Health. In addition to the exceptional quality of its diagnostic and therapeutic services, the hospital is distinguished by its outstanding scientific and research base, which produces around 2,000 publications and innovations annually. Special emphasis is placed on molecular medicine and experimental oncology.

The hospital was founded in 1971, and already in 1972 it was recognized as an Institute for Hospitalization and Scientific Medical Care (IRCCS). It comprises a hospital, a specialized emergency care center, an outpatient clinic, a diagnostic complex, and a research and scientific unit. The inpatient facility is designed for 1,318 beds.

On average, the institution performs annually:

  • 34,000 surgical procedures

  • 950,000 outpatient procedures

  • 67,700 emergency department services

The hospital includes departments of experimental oncology and neurology, genetic engineering and stem cell therapy, a bariatric surgery unit, an innovative aesthetic dermatology center, and other interdisciplinary institutes.

San Raffaele Hospital holds a leading global position in the level and success of diabetes treatment. In 1990, the world’s first pancreatic islet transplantation was performed here on a patient with type I diabetes. Overall, more than 34,000 patients with diabetes are treated at the clinic annually.

Patients from all over the world come to San Raffaele Hospital; therefore, it operates a medical tourism department. Staff members assist international patients at all stages of care: scheduling consultations and procedures, selecting convenient flight routes, assisting with visa processing, arranging airport transfers, providing interpreters, and booking accommodation in nearby hotels (or arranging lodging within the hospital complex).

Patients are accommodated in enhanced-comfort rooms equipped with a telephone, television, air conditioning, hairdryer, safe, and an additional bed for an accompanying person. The rehabilitation medicine unit includes a gym and swimming pool. The clinic provides accessories, linens, and household supplies. Meals are served on-site at 13:00 and 19:00, with menus tailored to the patient’s health condition (diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, nephropathy, obesity, and other specific needs).