The Hradec Králové University Hospital (FN HK) will launch a tender for a company that will modernise surgical fields for CZK 4.3 billion in the coming months. The construction work could start at the end of 2024 or early 2025. According to the hospital, the entire project should be completed in 2028.
In November 2023, the Czech government approved an increase in funds for the state’s strategic investments in healthcare, in which the HK Hospital project is included. The hospital also received a building permit last year.
“Most of the funds will be secured from the government’s strategic investment programme, while the rest will be paid from the HK Hospital’s own budget,” said hospital spokesman Jan Špelda.
The modernisation of the surgical areas, which is the largest investment project in the hospital’s history, will enable the creation of one of the largest operating theatres in the Czech Republic with 22 state-of-the-art operating rooms, including a room for robot-assisted surgery or a hybrid theatre.
“The Surgical Modernization Project is absolutely crucial for the further development of the University Hospital. We are pleased that we have managed to find funds for the increased costs of this construction and proceed to the implementation of this construction, which will enable the merger of almost all surgical disciplines at the HCF into a single building,” said hospital director Aleš Herman.
The hospital has been preparing the project for several years. “It will bring the possibility of restructuring surgical capacities, associated with the creation of new departments, such as a lower intensive care unit, a multidisciplinary septic department and others. The project will also improve the environment for patients and offer better facilities for the hospital staff,” said Herman.
The first phase of construction will see the construction of an extension to the current Academician Bedrna Pavilion of the HK Hospital, which was built in 1985 and does not meet the needs of modern medicine. Once the extension is completed, the surgical disciplines will move to the new building and the builders will renovate the pavilion, which is not possible during operation. Once the renovation is complete, surgical specialties such as orthopaedics will move into the renovated building. The project also includes the construction of new warehouses and a logistics centre.
At the HK Hospital, construction workers have been working on the reconstruction of the buildings and operations of the laboratory disciplines since autumn 2023. The construction work, costing approximately CZK 230 million, is scheduled to be completed by spring 2025. The hospital is also planning a project for the construction of an infectious diseases clinic, the completion of paediatric surgery and traumatology and other projects. Together with other entities, it is also planning to build parking houses to improve the parking situation in and around the hospital campus.
The Hradec University Hospital is one of the largest health care facilities in the Czech Republic and the largest in eastern Bohemia. It employs over 5,000 people and has more than 40 medical departments. Over 40,000 patients are hospitalized there annually, of which approximately 27,000 have undergone surgery in recent years. HK Hospital offers nearly 1,400 beds for patients.
Source: FN HK and CTK
Photo: Hradec Králové University Hospital
