Onassis Health

It all started in 1993 when the Onassis Foundation donated the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center to the Greek state. Thirty-one years later, with over 2 million visits, 52,700 heart surgeries, and 250 heart and lung transplants, a second medical care facility, the Onassis National Transplant Center, is coming in 2025 to become the cornerstone of transplant development in Greece. The two Centers share the same administration, and together, they form the Onassis Hospital.

This new hospital will be synonymous with the digital age of healthcare—a new era with faster diagnostic procedures and efficient care that embraces the technological solutions of a fully digital environment, designed to handle a broad spectrum of data, from human resources and clinic operations across the two facilities to patient medical records. The new Onassis Hospital ecosystem is accompanied by the foundation of the Onassis Children’s Unit, an autonomous facility for pediatric cardiology and pediatric cardiac surgery, as well as future child transplants.

Along with the foundation of the new hospital, we are working to shape a new culture around organ donation. In collaboration with the Hellenic Transplant Organization and the Onassis Hospital, we are engaging in a series of initiatives to revitalize the transplant sector and foster a culture that embraces organ donation in the country. Through our “Organmeetings” seminars, we are raising awareness and building a chain of life-giving support among citizens and institutions. By co-organizing the internationally renowned “Transplant Masterclasses,” we promote the dissemination of scientific knowledge. Through our educational program, “Orgamites,” we discuss the value of organ donation with primary school students. On the Onassis Channel on YouTube, we share the true stories of people who exemplify the power of life.

The Foundation’s offerings neither began nor ended there. With the same human-oriented focus and, at the same time, keeping high standards for innovation and excellence, it has delivered the donation of the VECTRA WB360 system as part of the overall renovation of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Center at the “Andreas Syggros” Hospital. The Foundation also continually upgrades the medical equipment at hospitals and continues to invest in the knowledge of health professionals, offering fellowships and continuing education.

With particular sensitivity to children, the Onassis Foundation supports associations engaging in important work, such as the Elpida Association of Friends of Children with Cancer and ELEPAP Rehabilitation for the Disabled; within the Onassis National Transplant Center, it is creating Onassis Children, the first autonomous unit for transplants exclusively for children in Greece.

If there is anything worth celebrating at the Onassis Foundation, it is life in itself.