Burgas mayor Dimitar Nikolov said on Facebook that the city's St Anastasia children's hospital and Trakya University in Edirne have signed a cooperation agreement. The university's rector will visit Burgas this month with a team of lecturers and doctors.
Hospital director Dr Blagomir Zdravkov and rector Prof Mustafa Hatipler signed the agreement.
Also at the meeting were the hospital's deputy director, Dr Toma Tomov, Faculty of Medicine dean Assoc Prof Daniel Petkov, and Assoc Prof Stoyan Hristov, deputy rector of what the mayor called "our state university". Nikolov said the three will help develop the medical and research partnership.
They discussed exchanging good medical practice, child healthcare, genetics, transplants and life-saving operations, as well as specific ideas for joint research.
The mayor said the agreement is more than a formal contract. He believes Trakya University has great medical potential, with strong academic staff, a university hospital and a research base. The Faculty of Medicine has 1,800 students.
"This partnership lets us go beyond Erasmus and work together outside its limits," Nikolov wrote. He added that "there should be no borders between people, doctors and universities when it comes to children's health".
The children's hospital in Burgas has been open for a few months. Before that, the mayor said, it was only a dream.