Investing in "spoke" hospitals to support the local region
At its core, STI Corporate's mission as a Benefit Society is to champion and spread business models and services that engage regional non-profit organizations, particularly in the health, culture, sports, and leisure sectors. This approach enables these organizations to access valuable economic resources that support and enhance their institutional goals.
Moreover, STI Corporate is committed to fostering outstanding scientific research and embracing social responsibility by engaging in initiatives and social and cultural projects that involve various stakeholders, including customers, employees, and suppliers.
STI Corporate's most recent charitable initiative is for Due Pistoni Onlus, a voluntary association in San Daniele del Friuli that, in collaboration with the Regional Oncology Center in Aviano, has always been committed to oncology research and has carried out various fundraising activities that have, for example, resulted in the donation of various items of equipment and shopping vouchers for Ukrainian refugees.
STI Corporate has decided to financially support the Two Pistons Association in the purchase of equipment for the early detection of cancer and other urological diseases, to be donated to the hospital of San Daniele del Friuli.
The Friulian hospital is a peripheral hospital center in central Friuli that has always been close to STI's heart. Since the 1990s, STI has been involved in the renovation and modernization of the healthcare facility, providing various engineering and technical consulting services.
Why invest in "spoke" hospitals
The demands on health care facilities are changing, and as the pandemic emergency demonstrated, all types of existing health care facilities play a critical role in our region as well. The challenges facing the health care system are many: the increasing aging of the population, the spread of new diseases, the diagnostic and therapeutic backlog still resulting from the pandemic emergency, and, above all, the exponential increase in health care costs.
In this context, "spoke" hospitals play a key role in the healthcare system”.
The HUB & SPOKE model is designed for treating complex conditions that need specialized and costly expertise. Instead of providing widespread treatment, it uses a tiered system with "hub" sites for the most complex cases and peripheral "spoke" centers for others. Smaller "spoke" centers remain vital, as the model aims to improve regional services and strengthen small hospitals' roles in the care network.
The issue is complex, but a crucial solution involves maintaining and modernizing health facilities, focusing on flexibility and adaptability. A practical approach is to seek new funding methods, such as private or group-led initiatives that raise awareness, encourage voluntary participation, and enable collective efforts for improvements, equipment purchases, and overall community health support when needed.
This is the principle that STI Group believes in and wants to support and promote not only with this charitable initiative, but through its work on daily basis.