A groundbreaking ceremony has been held for a new data center at Caritas Hospital in Bad Mergentheim, Germany.

Held on October 6, it will result in the hospital gaining a data center that can also be used by other hospitals within the Barmherzige Brüder Trier hospital group (BBT Group) within Baden-Württemberg, including the Tauberbischofsheim Hospital, the Hohenlohe Hospital in Öhringen, the Julia Lanz Hospital in Mannheim, and the ten BBT senior centers in the region.

The data center will span 147 sqm (1,580 sq ft) and is being developed via modular construction methods. It will be located on the grounds of the Caritas hospital, and will include a server room along with space for electrical distribution, cooling, and security technology. It will also have diesel generators for emergency power.

A solar array will also be installed on the building to provide energy to the data center.

The data center is expected to be handed over to the hospitals for use in the first quarter of 2026. A total investment of €3.6m ($4.18m) is being made in the data center, though funding is still awaiting approval from the state.

“The construction of the data center is a key investment in the future of our hospital,” said commercial director Jeremia Berschauer. “Digitalization has become an integral part of the hospital and will continue to gain ground. With the data center, we are now creating the structural and technical prerequisites to be prepared for the challenges of today and in the future.”

“The data center is an important project to secure regional healthcare. It further positions the Caritas Hospital for the future. This represents a direct investment in the quality of medical care and thus in the health of its citizens. I would like to thank our partner in the Tauberfranken Health Holding (GHTF), the Barmherzige Brüder Trier (BBT Group), for this bold investment,” added district administrator Christoph Schauder.

The data center is expected to increase compute capacity, enabling the use of AI in medical applications.

“The importance of AI applications in medicine is growing rapidly,” said Dr. Jochen Selbach, medical director of the Caritas Hospital. “AI systems in radiology, for example, can already analyze huge amounts of data in a short time, providing clues to tumors and supporting us doctors in diagnostics. With the data center, we are creating the basis for the high computing power required for this.”

BBT Group is a Christian hospital group with more than 100 facilities. It is one of the largest such healthcare groups in Germany.

Earlier this month, an overheated server system brought down operations at three hospitals in the Lörrach district of Germany.

Bad Mergentheim is in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwestern corner of Germany. Most of the state’s data centers are located in and around its capital, Stuttgart.