[University hospitals: past, present and future]

This article discusses the evolution of university hospitals, their characteristics, functioning and financing and their role in medical education and research.

Data come from a workshop organized by the World Health Organization on university hospitals in 22 countries.

The main finding is that these institutions are increasingly inadequate to the reality of the health sector in which they operate and to the challenges posed by the profound changes currently taking place in the health system of most countries.

A reform is needed, and the article presents a few possible strategies for reforming these hospitals.