In November 2026, AP-HP will conclude its six-month Presidency of the European University Hospital Alliance by hosting the EUHA Members’ Assembly and related events in Paris. It is the second time AP-HP hosts the Assembly, after 2019.

The programme runs from 3 to 6 November, mainly at the AP-HP headquarters. EUHA networks and working groups meet on 3 and 4 November, and on the evening of 4 November AP-HP hosts an innovation get-together dedicated to open innovation at the Hôtel-Dieu. On 5 November, the EUHA symposium “Crisis Preparedness” brings together experts from AP-HP, EUHA member hospitals, national authorities and the European Commission. The official Members’ Assembly, where EUHA CEOs set strategic priorities and review the Alliance’s activities, takes place on 6 November.

In the lead-up to the events, we had the pleasure of speaking with the EUHA President, Étienne Gayat, and gaining his insights into the upcoming programme, EUHA’s activities, and the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for our alliance in the decade to come.

Q
The AP-HP Presidency comes at an important moment for EUHA, as the Alliance approaches its 10-year anniversary in 2027. What have been the key priorities of the AP-HP Presidency, and what have you hoped to achieve during your term?
A
AP-HP was among the founders of EUHA in 2017, so leading the Alliance as it approaches its tenth anniversary means a lot to us. Our first priority has been to start implementing the renewed EUHA strategy approved at the Members’ Assembly at HUS Helsinki University Hospital in May 2026: turning shared priorities into concrete work across our 14 working groups and networks, which involve more than 200 professionals.

Our second priority has been to bring EUHA closer to the staff of our hospitals. At AP-HP, we have used the Presidency to raise awareness of EUHA and of the value of benchmarking between European university hospitals, and to encourage more colleagues to join working groups, for example the Nursing and Midwifery networks.

We have also wanted the Presidency to show what EUHA collaboration delivers in practice. A good example is is the EUHA benchmark on generative AI. Following a request from the EUHA Members’ Assembly at their meeting at HUS Helsinki University Hospital, AP-HP launched a survey of the eleven member hospitals in July 2026 to map how generative AI is used today: governance and technical choices, maturity by use case, from querying the electronic health record to ambient documentation and administrative functions, and the main barriers to adoption. All answers will be aggregated into a comparative benchmark shared with all members, so that each hospital can see where it stands and learn from the others.

Finally, we chose crisis preparedness as the theme of the Paris symposium, because it is a shared concern for all our institutions and a field where European cooperation brings real added value.

Q
What are you most looking forward to at the EUHA Members’ Assembly and events taking place in Paris?
A
Above all, the people. For four days, AP-HP will welcome colleagues from all member hospitals: networks and working groups, experts, CEOs. These face-to-face meetings are where trust is built and where new collaborations start.

I am particularly looking forward to the symposium on 5 November, developed in partnership with the Chair in Medical Crisis Management of Sorbonne University. The morning will look at the threats hospitals face today: attacks on hospital infrastructure, cyber risks, heatwaves and climate risk, and high-intensity conflict. The afternoon will turn to responses and resilience: surge capacity, the human factor in crisis response, hospital at home and the EU institutional perspective. Experts from Helsinki, Karolinska, Charité, Vall d’Hebron and King’s Health Partners will share their experience alongside AP-HP teams, the French Ministry of Health and the French Armed Forces Medical Service, with a contribution from DG SANTE.

The day before, on November 4, we will welcome our partners at the Hôtel-Dieu, the oldest hospital in Paris, for an evening dedicated to open innovation. The Hôtel-Dieu has become a place where healthcare professionals, patients, researchers and start-ups co-create new solutions in health and care delivery, and we are glad to open it to our EUHA colleagues.
Q
Driving system-level change for resilience, crisis-preparedness and long-term sustainability of healthcare systems is one of the priorities of EUHA’s new strategy. Why do you think this issue is particularly important for university hospitals today?
A
Because university hospitals are at the heart of the response when a crisis hits. They treat the most complex patients, they host referral centres and highly specialised teams, and they are expected to keep functioning when everything else is under strain.

The nature of crises has also changed. Hospitals now face cyberattacks and power outages, health crises, geopolitical uncertainty and the risk of conflict, as well as disinformation and the manipulation of medical information. Preparing for these threats can no longer be improvised: it requires planning, training, exercises and a culture of resilience shared by all staff. As university hospitals, we also have a responsibility to produce knowledge on these issues and to train the professionals who will manage the crises of tomorrow.
Q
Many of the risks facing hospitals, from cyber threats and infectious diseases to climate-related events and supply-chain disruptions, do not stop at national borders. Where do you see the greatest value in European cooperation between university hospitals?
A
First, in learning from each other. All our institutions have been tested by crises, most recently by the COVID-19 pandemic. Sharing what worked and what did not is the fastest way to improve, and it is exactly what the Paris symposium aims to do.

Second, in building common positions. Crisis preparedness is increasingly organised at EU level, and EUHA members can bring the hospital perspective to these discussions. The Alliance has already worked on healthcare resilience, and this work should continue.

Third, in preparing to act together. When a crisis strikes, it helps enormously to already know your counterparts in other European hospitals and to trust them. A network like EUHA creates that trust before it is needed.
Q
From your perspective, what should European policymakers better understand about the role university hospitals play, not only in delivering highly specialised care, but also in research, education, innovation and health-system resilience?
A
That these missions cannot be separated. The same teams treat the most complex patients, run clinical trials, train future professionals and develop new treatments, such as advanced therapy medicinal products. This combination is what makes university hospitals so valuable, and it is also what makes them fragile when policies address each mission separately.

University hospitals are also a pillar of health-system resilience. During crises, they are the ones that absorb the shock, coordinate expertise and adapt fastest.
Q
Why is EU-level advocacy becoming more important for university hospitals now than ever before?
A
Because more and more decisions that shape our daily work are taken at EU level: on health data, medical devices, clinical trials, antimicrobial resistance or crisis preparedness. If university hospitals are not at the table, these rules are written without the people who will have to apply them.

No single hospital, however large, can make itself heard in Brussels on all these topics. Together, through EUHA, we can.
Q
What would be your message to EU policymakers about the current and future role of university hospitals in Europe?
A
Consider university hospitals as partners. We are ready to share our data, our expertise and our experience on the ground to help design policies that work for patients. Investing in university hospitals means investing in research, in the healthcare workforce of tomorrow and in Europe’s capacity to face future crises.
Q
Many staff in our hospitals may not realise that their expertise directly informs EUHA’s advocacy at EU level. What message would you like to share with them about why their contribution matters?
A
Their expertise is the foundation of everything EUHA says at the European level. EUHA’s positions are built in the working groups and networks, by clinicians, nurses, researchers, engineers and managers from our hospitals. Without them, EUHA would have no credibility.

So my message to them is simple: thank you, and get involved! Joining a EUHA working group means taking part in concrete European projects, exchanging with international experts and making the voice of your profession heard.
Q
Looking ahead to EUHA’s second decade, what would you like to see the Alliance achieve at European level that it has not yet achieved today?
A
I would like EUHA to become a natural partner of European institutions, consulted early on every major health policy, from data and innovation to crisis preparedness. I would also like the Alliance to deliver more concrete joint projects whose benefits patients can feel directly, building on initiatives such as the generative AI benchmark.

Ten years ago, a few university hospitals decided they were stronger together. The next decade will prove them right, for the benefit of all patients in Europe.

For more information visit the EUHA Members’ Assembly and related events page.