The start of construction of the central building of the Zlín hospital has been postponed

Zlín - The commencement of construction for the central building of the Zlín regional hospital will be delayed by several months. Regional councilors today disagreed with the terms of the loan that the hospital wanted to take for the zero phase, said Governor Jiří Čunek (KDU-ČSL) to reporters. The zero phase, which involves building a road and utilities on the slope behind the hospital, is expected to cost nearly 120 million crowns, and construction was supposed to start this year.

According to the governor, the hospital wanted to secure buildings for the loan application, which was not possible. The loan application must now be resubmitted, after which the councilors will approve it. CTK was unable to obtain a statement from the hospital's management.

The delay could be in the order of months; initially, it was expected that the project would already begin. "The road has already been designed; it's just a matter of securing the loans and announcing the tender. Now, it has been postponed, I think, by about two months," Čunek stated. However, he added that work could still begin this year, depending on the length of the tender process. Čunek had previously criticized the management of the Zlín hospital before the elections as an opposition representative. The region was previously led by a coalition of the ČSSD, communists, and the Party of Citizens' Rights; last year, the victorious Christian Democrats formed a coalition with the ANO movement, STAN, and the Civic Democrats.

The construction of the central building is expected to cost 780 million crowns. It should include internal medicine, a long-term care unit, neurology, geriatrics, and possibly other departments, as well as an outpatient clinic. An extension serving as a central reception and new entrance to the hospital is also planned to be added to the building.