Health Ministry Presents Medical Plan for National Hospital, Expects 1,532 Beds

Bratislava, 29 January (TASR) - The Health Ministry presented the medical plan for the new national hospital in the Bratislava borough of Vajnory at the parliamentary health committee meeting on Thursday, anticipating that the health-care facility will provide 1,532 beds when at maximum capacity. "This project is one of the most important modernisation steps taken by the state in health care in the last decade ... The goal is to create a comprehensive, tertiary university hospital that combines prevention, diagnosis, treatment, research and education," said Health Minister Kamil Sasko (Voice-SD) at the committee meeting. According to the plan, the new hospital should have a maximum capacity of 1,532 beds. It should have 24 operating rooms, 22 procedure rooms and 210 outpatient departments. After the committee meeting, the minister specified that the construction of the hospital is expected to cost a total of around €1 billion. He pointed out that expenditures on medical equipment amounting to around €200 million must also be taken into account. Sasko praised the fact that the construction of the hospital has already begun. "After 40 years, it's no longer just speculation, but a reality," he stated, declaring that all efforts will be made to ensure that the shell of the facility is completed by the end of the current election period. The minister added that funding for this year and next year has been secured. am/df