In Zlín, the construction of an oncology center will begin

Zlín - The long-discussed oncology center in the Zlín Region will begin construction on the grounds of the T. Baťa Regional Hospital in Zlín this September. It could be completed in a year. Regional councilor responsible for healthcare, Bronislav Fuksa, informed journalists about this today.
The construction, which will cost 173 million crowns, will be covered by the Zlín Region; funds for the equipment, especially the linear accelerator costing more than 100 million, should be financed by the hospital from its own resources. The regional and hospital leadership wants to obtain the money from European funds or other grant programs and sponsorship donations. "The money is there to be acquired. We will do everything to ensure that neither the construction nor the purchase of equipment will hinder the opening of the center on time,” Fuksa told ČTK.
The oncology center will be located in building 21 on the premises of the Baťa hospital. The facility will include an examination room and a hospital ward, and a special vault will be built behind the building, where the linear accelerator will be located. The walls of the building will be about two meters thick to prevent dangerous radiation from penetrating outside.
The Zlín Region is the only region in the country that does not have at least one fully equipped oncology center. Around 20,000 cancer patients live here. Another 3,500 people are diagnosed with the disease each year. Patients have to travel for treatment. A smaller oncology facility exists in Holešov in the Kroměříž region, but a fully equipped center can only be found beyond the region, for example in Brno or Olomouc.
At the same time as the oncology center, a medical rescue service center will be constructed next to the Zlín hospital complex, costing about 80 million crowns and expected to be completed in August 2008.