Report of the Supervisory Board - Amsterdam UMC

Report of the Supervisory Board

The Supervisory Board looks back on the past year with a sense of appreciation. As the Supervisory Board, we have observed the Board of Directors operating as a strong and close-knit team in leading Amsterdam UMC, with an eye to the present and to the future. Alongside all staff members, they are working on achieving Amsterdam UMC’s ambitions to be a leader in all core tasks: patient care, education and training, research and valorisation. With all the political and geopolitical developments far away and close to home, this is no easy task, especially because coping with the impact of the merger, including the integration of processes and systems, still require a great deal of effort.

Looking back on 2025

The new ‘A Healthy Future for All’ strategy was launched in early 2025. The creation of the new strategy was a dynamic process where we drew on internal and external input and a mix of the future generation’s ideas and experience from the past. Amsterdam UMC is and will continue to be founded on the four core tasks of patient care, education and training, research and valorisation. With additional focus in the form of ‘initiatives’, a strong start has been made towards achieving the ambitions set out in the strategy: taking the lead, healthy and sustainable, digital transformation and flexibility for colleagues.

The year 2025 also marked a new phase in considering the future of Amsterdam UMC and the associated accommodation challenge. Working at two locations for all core tasks has been well organised, but this obviously has its disadvantages. This is the case when it comes to patients, staff, students and external stakeholders and certainly from a financial point of view, too. The Supervisory Board is closely monitoring the process of establishing a strategic accommodation route in which all aspects are being considered to determine a direction for the next 10-15 years that aligns with the vision for the future. To that end, a thematic meeting was held in November with the full Supervisory Board for a ‘deep dive’ into the matter, in order to set out its supervisory and advisory role in more detail. The Supervisory Board intends to look at this explicitly from the perspective of Amsterdam UMC’s vision for the future in relation to the four core tasks.

We will need sound financial management for accommodation in the future and to be able to continue implementing innovations commensurate with the character of a university medical centre. Major expenditure in the future will require budgetary discipline and careful scrutiny of income and expenditure. The Supervisory Board noted in 2025 that financial frameworks would be formulated in 2026 for the years ahead. These will require Amsterdam UMC to make savings if it is to be able to continue making necessary investments in the future. The aim is to achieve an EBITDA improvement of €100 million by the end of 2030. This will be necessary in the coming years and will require a great deal of effort on part of the organisation. The Supervisory Board notes with pride that Amsterdam UMC is in a position to secure a large number of research grants (veni, vidi) and plays a leading role in scientific research both nationally and internationally.

The Supervisory Board saw the enthusiasm with which the organisation prepared for the arrival of the JCI (Joint Commission International) audit team and was present when the JCI’s feedback on the outstanding results was presented. With only 14 strategic improvement plans, Amsterdam UMC can count itself among the international elite in all core tasks. The mirror held up before us by JCI created a collective sense of self-confidence and pride.

Role as employer

The Board of Directors has continued to grow as a team and has been operating in its present composition for two years at the time of writing this annual report. The Supervisory Board welcomes the fact that the Board of Directors continues to invest in its teamwork and in its members’ personal development.

Annual interviews are conducted with all member of the Board of Directors, alongside regular and occasional interactions.

Composition of the Supervisory Board and committees

Composition of the Supervisory Board and committees
Following the departure of Anita Nijboer on 1 January 2025, as mentioned in the previous annual report, the Supervisory Board comprised six members in the first half of 2025. This is the transitional phase towards a five-member board. Wim Kuijken departed as chair of the Supervisory Board on 1 September. He had acted as chair since the beginning of the administrative merger in 2018. He had earlier performed the same role during the period when VU and VUmc were still intertwined (under their articles of association). His wide-ranging experience and standing were vitally important throughout the entire merger process: committed and dependable, a true ‘critical friend’ to the Board of Directors and a highly valued and knowledgeable fellow supervisory board member.

Jet Bussemaker started performing the role of vice-chair on 1 January 2025 and succeeded Anita Nijboer as chair of the Remuneration and Appointments Advisory Committee. Upon the departure of Wim Kuijken, Jet Bussemaker became chair of the Supervisory Board and a member of the Remuneration and Appointments Advisory Committee, with Marja van Dieijen becoming vice-chair of the Supervisory Board and also chair of the Remuneration and Appointments Advisory Committee.

Since 1 September, all Supervisory Board committees have comprised two members. The Supervisory Board has decided to appoint a successor six months before the end of a Supervisory Board member’s term of appointment. This dual appointment and overlapping of roles will allow for a proper handover. Our findings and an evaluation in 2027 will reveal whether this overlapping arrangement involving a five-member Supervisory Board will suffice for a large organisation such as Amsterdam UMC.

Paul Smits was appointed for a second term as member of the Supervisory Board and chair of the Core Tasks, Quality and Safety (KKV) committee on 1 January 2025. The procedure was smooth, involving the Clients’ Council (Paul Smits was appointed on the recommendation of the Clients’ Council) and other advisory and consultative bodies, and participation in the Appointments Advisory Committee (BAC) by representatives of the Members’ Council of the VU Vereniging and the Supervisory Board of the University of Amsterdam. Marja van Dieijen and Guillaume Jetten were appointed in a similar and equally smooth manner. Both were appointed for a second term on 1 November 2025.

Information

The meetings the Supervisory Board’s has with the Board of Directors are an important source of information that enables it to perform its supervisory role well. There are other ways of obtaining information and gauging the atmosphere within the organisation. For instance, the Supervisory Board talks in pairs to an average of 30 people across the organisation every year. The people they talk to range from a member of a Green Team to a recently appointed professor, and from the Facilities Services Department to the AAR (Registrars’ Council). These are discussions without an agenda that give the Supervisory Board an idea of what is going on in the organisation, what makes people proud and what they are worrying about.

Self-evaluation

The Supervisory Board evaluates its own performance every year. The Healthcare Governance Code requires self-evaluation to be performed once every three years under external guidance. The process was started at the end of 2025. Jeannette Franken of BeCore obtained information from various viewpoints. This will result in a reflection that will be discussed by the Supervisory Board in early 2026.

Finances and 1ERP

The Supervisory Board has closely monitored Amsterdam UMC’s financial soundness and will continue to do so, especially given the investments that will be needed in the future. The 2025 annual accounts show a positive result of €23.9 million. The Supervisory Board stresses the need to capitalise on the synergy benefits of the merger, at the same time recognising that operating and maintaining two sites and working with duplicate, as yet unharmonised systems (such as ERP, LIMS and EPD) comes at the expense of efficiency.

General oversight and strategy

All seven regularly scheduled meetings were held in 2025, with one being devoted entirely to the strategic accommodation route. The Supervisory Board was kept informed in a timely manner about current matters that could affect the reputation of Amsterdam UMC and was given the opportunity to perform its role as an adviser/sounding board.

Before each meeting with the Board of Directors, the Supervisory Board first has discussions among its own members, partly informally and partly as substantive preparation for the agenda. The findings from the committees are fixed agenda items at the meetings the Supervisory Board’s has with the Board of Directors.

During three meetings, guest speakers covered the following topics: sustainability (May), the post-Covid centre of expertise (July) and digitisation (September).

The Remuneration and Appointments Advisory Committee met twice, as scheduled, concentrating on HR aspects such as the labour market and talent development. The committee also took the lead in the procedures for the reappointment of three members of the Supervisory Board.

Members of the Supervisory Board maintains contact with the advisory and employee participation bodies. For the Works Council, two members of the Supervisory Board always attended the Article 24 meeting/general business consultation, with Willy de Mooij as the permanent point of contact, as well as a rotating second person. Paul Smits attends the Client Council meeting twice a year.

July 2025 saw the first meeting with representatives of all advisory and employee participation bodies, the full Board of Directors and the Supervisory Board. Using the World Café method, the themes of social safety, digitisation in healthcare and education, regional collaboration, external collaboration/valorisation and medium-term and long-term accommodation were discussed. Both in terms of content and relationship, this is a method worth repeating and will take place again in 2026.

Decisions taken in

2025

February

Reappointment of Paul Smits, effective 1 March 2025, for a second four-year term as member of the Supervisory Board

March

Approval of the reviewed 2025–2026 LTHP
Approval of the IAS department’s 2025 transformation (annual) plan
Adoption of the job classification and the WNT pay

May

Adoption of the 2024 annual report and accounts (annual accounts and management report)
Adoption of the Board of Directors’ expenses

July

Discharge of the Board of Directors’ expense

September

Approval of PwC’s audit plan and its scope for the 2025 financial year
Appointment of PwC as external auditor for the 2025 financial year
Appointment of PwC as external auditor from the 2026 financial year for the first four years (of seven) for lot 1 of the EU tender (year-end reporting and closely related grants)
Adoption of the effective date for the Board of Director’s expense

October

Reappointment of Marja van Dieijen for a second four-year term as member of the Supervisory Board, effective 1 November 2025
Reappointment of Guillaume Jetten for a second four-year term as member of the Supervisory Board, effective 1 November 2025

December

Adoption of the regulations for the Core Tasks, Quality and Safety Committee
Adoption of the regulations for the Audit and Accommodation Committee
Approval of the 2026 budget and the 2026–2030 multi-year forecast
Approval of the 2026 treasury annual plan
Approval of the 2025-2026 LTHP in conjunction with the 2026 LTOP

Relationship with the VU Vereniging

One or two Supervisory Board members attend every meeting of the VU Vereniging’s members’ council. This helps to maintain an open and constructive connection between the Supervisory Board, the Board of Directors and the members’ council of the VU Vereniging, as well as the identity and values they represent. Amsterdam UMC also continues to pay unceasing attention to these matters, as well as to ethical conduct and a sense of purpose. The Supervisory Board also oversees these matters.

In conclusion

The Supervisory Board would like to thank the Board of Directors and all staff at Amsterdam UMC for their contributions and dedication over the past year, and looks back with pride and appreciation on what has been achieved together.