In Liberec, a completely new hospital could be built

Liberec - The most suitable variant for the construction of a new regional hospital in Liberec should be selected by a commission made up of representatives of owners, doctors, and urban planners by the beginning of the summer holidays. This was stated today by Luděk Nečesaný, the general director of the Liberec Regional Hospital, to journalists. The current hospital does not meet spatial requirements and does not allow further development of the largest healthcare facility in the Liberec Region, which has 1,140 beds.
    The commission is evaluating three different options, with doctors preferring the construction of a completely new hospital. Any reconstruction or larger renovation on the current site on Husova Street significantly complicates the operation of individual departments. "This is currently evident in the construction of the heliport," Nečesaný pointed out.
    Considered locations for the new hospital include an area near the airport on the outskirts of the city or the site of the former Textilana near the lower center. The third option is a gradual transformation of the current complex, which can expand towards Jablonecká Street. The hospital would choose this eventuality if it were not able to secure funding for the construction of a completely new facility. Building a new pavilion would cost hundreds of millions of crowns, while the entire complex would be significantly more expensive. Currently, discussions are about three to four billion crowns. Nečesaný wants to start the construction of the new hospital or pavilion within two years.
    The hospital needs new spaces especially due to highly specialized fields such as oncology, cardiology, traumatology, and neurosurgery, which serve residents from the entire region. The hospital is managing to acquire additional top-notch devices for these fields, thanks in part to European grants, but it constantly faces the challenge of where to place them. This year, for example, the oncology department will have to move to temporary facilities for half a year because it has acquired a new linear accelerator for 100 million crowns, but there is no space to install it. Therefore, additional construction is required. "We have prepared a fairly extensive analysis of where each field encounters the need for improvisation and makeshift solutions, and we have concluded that the level of these deficiencies is extremely high," stated medical deputy Richard Lukáš.
    For example, the hospital still does not have a unified emergency admission, and patients are transported by ambulance to three different buildings. The operation of the hospital is also complicated by the fact that it is scattered across 35 different facilities. Some buildings in the complex are over 150 years old, and their maintenance is very costly. According to Nečesaný, they spend between 60 and 70 million crowns annually on repairs and the removal of emergency conditions.
    The hospital in Liberec has three owners - the Liberec Region and the cities of Liberec and Turnov. In addition to the complex in Liberec, it has also included the hospital in Turnov since the beginning of the year.