The Region approved the tender for the reconstruction of Náchod Hospital for CZK 1.3 billion

Hradec Králové - The Council of the Hradec Králové Region approved today the announcement of a tender and the tender documentation for the reconstruction of the Náchod Regional Hospital for a maximum price of 1.3 billion crowns excluding VAT. This is the third time the region has issued the contract; the previous two were canceled for various reasons. The region will officially publish the contract on the regional procurement profile website in the near future. The envelope opening with offers is expected at the turn of August and September. This information was provided to ČTK by the region's spokesperson Martina Götzová. The reconstruction of the Náchod hospital is currently the main investment priority of the region.

"Compared to the original tender requirements, the most significant changes occurred in the bill of quantities. We were also forced to change the overall maximum allowable value of the contract to 1.3 billion crowns excluding VAT," said governor Lubomír Franc (ČSSD). The hundred million increase compared to the original submission is due to the inclusion of the financial costs of the contractor. Among other things, this is the value of the bank guarantee that construction companies must provide.

According to the region, final prices could also be lower. "Currently, the practice is such that construction contracts are competed with savings of up to thirty percent," the governor said. The region intends to address any potentially undervalued offers by preparing a professional assessment with a price estimate if necessary.

The primary evaluation criterion for the tender remains the lowest bid price. "However, we also emphasize the expertise of the applicants. For example, we require experience in managing the construction of at least three large projects in the healthcare sector, with a total value of at least 1.05 billion crowns," stated councilor for investments Josef Dvořák (ČSSD). After the envelopes are opened, the region will evaluate the offers, which could take from two to six weeks. The contract will be administered for the region by the company RTS.

The region has been preparing the hospital reconstruction for many years. According to original plans, construction was supposed to start in 2012 and be completed by mid-2015. A significant delay occurred after the region canceled the construction firm's tender, which had lasted over a year, in May 2013 and gave up a European subsidy of 400 million crowns. The second tender was issued by the region in July 2015 and was canceled this February due to poorly processed documentation. Before the February cancellation of the tender, the region pushed the deadline for submitting offers seventeen times. It received 210 requests for additional information on the project documentation with 995 questions from applicants.

The opposition criticizes the region's approach to the tender process. "This key investment has been completely mishandled by the current regional administration. After more than four years, we are again where the region was in March 2012," stated opposition councilor Vladimír Derner (KDU-ČSL). The Christian Democrats also question the realism of the established maximum price, which, according to other calculation methods, could be as high as 1.5 billion crowns.

Builders are expected to construct two new pavilions at the hospital, which will include, for example, the inpatient section for surgery, orthopedics, operating rooms, a maternity ward, and a pediatric department. According to the plans, construction is to take place while the hospital operates, with work expected to last two years and an additional six months for trial operation.