We’re sure many of you are well aware that future residents of East Village will have access to their very own Polyclinic Centre. 

Sitting at the heart of East Village, our brand spanking new medical centre has already passed its dress rehearsal with flying colours, having catered for the world’s top athletes during both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

We are now immensely proud to share the news that this Polyclinic will also be renamed after the legendary Paralympic founder, Sir Ludwig Guttmann, as announced by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt last week.

For those of you not in ‘the know’, Sir Ludwig Guttmann was a Jewish neurologist who revolutionised the care of spinal injury patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Buckinghamshire, and set up a tournament for patients which coincided with the London 1948 Olympics. This was the forerunner of the Paralympic Games.

The Sir Ludwig Guttman Health Centre will serve the new residents of East Village and also the local existing community.

Mr Hunt said:

“The Sir Ludwig Guttmann Health Centre, which will be  handed over the NHS and local authorities, will bring a lasting legacy to East Village and its new community. It will not only keep the sporting heritage of the site alive and well, it will also provide high quality care for a whole new generation of patients.”

The Health Secretary also stated that it was ‘”only fitting that we dedicate this state-of-the-art health centre to his memory” whilst International Paralympic Committee president, Sir Philip Craven, described it as “a fitting tribute to a great man who started this movement.”

Hear hear, we say.

It was especially wonderful to hear Sir Ludwig’s daughter, Eva Loeffler (who was mayor of East Village during the Games) praise this tribute to such a great man:

“My father would have been honoured and thrilled to know that the legacy of the London 2012 Games would include a polyclinic that bore his name and served a community that had its roots in the wonderful Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2012.”

This is another fantastic example of history being recognised and a reminder of the exciting future we can all look forward to here at East Village. The legacy is here, and here to stay.