Hradec Králové will donate 30 million crowns to charity for the construction of a hospice in Stěžery

Hradec Králové - The city of Hradec Králové is granting 30 million crowns to the Regional Charity of Hradec Králové for the construction of a hospice in Stěžery. The city council approved the subsidy today. They fulfilled a previous promise from the city hall that the city would contribute to the construction of the hospice. The charity began building the hospice with respite services, which will cost approximately 180 million crowns, last November in Stěžery, near Hradec Králové. The construction is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with operations planned to start in the spring of 2026.

In the Hradec region, which is the most populous district in the county, there has been a long-standing high demand for hospice services. There is also a lack of a hospice in connection with the largest healthcare facility in the region, the Hradec Faculty Hospital. The only inpatient hospice in the Hradec Králové region has been operating since 1995 in Červený Kostelec in the Náchod district. It is operated by the Regional Charity of Červený Kostelec.

The main financial support for the construction is expected to come from a grant of 62 million crowns from the European National Recovery Plan. The Hradec Králové Region will contribute 60 million crowns for the construction. The Hradec Králové Diocese will cover ten million crowns, and the remaining 18 million crowns will be secured by the charity from donors, said the charity director Vojtěch Šůstek. Part of the proceeds from this year's Three Kings Collection in the region will also go towards the construction.

The hospice will have 20 beds, including 12 hospice care beds and eight respite care beds. It will also include facilities for home-based hospice care, which the Hradec regional charity already operates. The facility will also include an outpatient palliative care doctor's office, a hospice care consultation room, and a supply store. The administrative part of the building will be two-story, while the inpatient part will be single-story.

A hospice is a health and social service that offers assistance to the severely ill and dying. Home hospices provide nursing and palliative care in the patient's home environment, allowing them to spend their last days at home, with dignity and surrounded by their loved ones. The inpatient respite service will enable families to temporarily take over the complete care of the sick person.

In the Hradec Králové region, care for the severely ill and dying is consistently provided by five home hospices and the Anežka Hospice in Červený Kostelec, which has a capacity of 30 beds for palliative care. The region contributes to the operation of hospice care and annually increases its support. For the year 2025, the support for hospice care has been increased by one million crowns compared to this year, totaling 26 million crowns.