Foundation behind crane manufacturer HMF donates DKK 9 million for new treatment of tremor

The Bundgaard Foundation, who owns the crane manufacturer HMF Group, is donating DKK 9 million to Aarhus University Hospital (AUH). The donation will go towards equipment for a groundbreaking treatment for Essential Tremor. AUH will be the first public hospital in Scandinavia to offer this treatment.

Essential tremor is a disease that affects up to 10 percent of all Danes over the age of 60. The disease can be severely disabling, and there has so far been no medical or surgical treatment for the condition in Scandinavia.

But a new treatment, which has shown positive results abroad, is now coming to Aarhus. With the donation from the Bundgaard Foundation, AUH will be the first public hospital in Scandinavia to offer focused ultrasound treatment for essential tremor.

"At AUH, we are extremely grateful and delighted that the Bundgaard Foundation has donated DKK 9 million to new equipment, which is essential for us to be able to offer the new treatment for essential tremor as of 2023. Without the donation, this would not have been possible," says Medical Director at AUH, Claus Thomsen in a press release from AUH.

Foundation supports the development of healthcare in Aarhus Municipality

The crane manufacturer, HMF, is 100% owned by the Bundgaard Foundation, and the Foundation's primary purpose is to ensure the development of HMF as a strong company and a good place to work.

But the Bundgaard Foundation also has a non-profit purpose, namely to donate money to the hospital service in Aarhus. For this very reason, the Foundation found the donation for the treatment of essential tremor relevant.

"When AUH presented us with how we, with a donation of DKK 9 million, could help to significantly improve the quality of life for people with essential tremor, we knew we had to support the case," says the chairman of the Bundgaard Foundation, Jens Jørgen Madsen.

It was Jens Jørgen Madsen himself who presented the donation of DKK 9 million to AUH at a presentation ceremony on 24 February. He was accompanied by HMF's CEO, Jens Seehusen Christensen.

Enables treatment of up to 70 Danish patients annually

The pioneering method uses ultrasound to treat the area of the brain where the tremor originates. Several thousand patients have already experienced a positive effect of the treatment - the vast majority already immediately after the treatment.

AUH expects to be able to treat 30-70 patients in Denmark annually with focused ultrasound treatment as early as the beginning of 2023.

Jens Jørgen Madsen says: "We are very happy to be able to contribute to such a groundbreaking treatment that very tangibly improves the quality of life of Danish patients."

AUH hopes, together with international centres, to extend the treatment to other movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease in the future.

More information

About the donation
Jens Jørgen Madsen, Chairman of the Bundgaard Foundation, mobile: 21 78 18 44

About the upcoming new treatment at AUH
Andreas Nørgaard Glud, Departmental Physician, Brain and Spine Surgery and Project Manager for the introduction of the new treatment for tremor disorders at AUH, mobile: 23 88 22 13