Česky
Mr. Director, you have been the head of the hospital in Hořovice for almost three years. How would you briefly sum up the past period?
I understand my role as director of our hospital as an opportunity to participate partly and certainly temporarily in its permanent development. I am not originally from Hořovice, but I have been living here happily for some time. The hospital has grown close to my heart over the years of my doctoring, so I must admit my positively biased view of it. The hospital in Hořovice has always had a very good standard, but in spite of this it must be clear to everyone at first glance how quickly it has been changing for the better recently. Since it was privatised ten years ago, its development has accelerated considerably and the hospital has not only grown in size, but also in the range of services it provides, which in many areas exceeds its regional significance.
So I assess the past years as a period full of mostly positive changes, thanks to which the hospital has overcome its regional importance and strengthened its position in the Czech healthcare system. In doing so, it has been able to provide medical care for local residents and patients from afar on an ever-larger scale, with better quality and in beautiful premises.
What have been the most important investments in the hospital?
I consider the most important to be the fact that even in the difficult situation of the underfunded Czech healthcare system, the owner Ing. Zavalianis found the means and invested in the hospital very generously and permanently. In a period when other hospitals were mostly stagnant, the one in Hořovice grew into beauty and, dare I say, luxury. Another important fact was that the investments made were used wisely and that the hospital was renovated very thoroughly and honestly. Not only have cosmetic changes been made to the exterior and interior of the building, but also extensive changes have been made to the technical facilities and infrastructure of the building. Spatial expansion of operations and investments in equipment have enabled the hospital to run more efficiently. Internal road improvements have been completed, which, together with the new car park, will improve patient comfort. Hořovice Hospital is now a comprehensive health care facility that has the facilities and further potential for growth.
What do you consider to be the biggest achievement of the hospital reconstruction?
The biggest success for me is that it was not just a reconstruction, but a complete rebuilding into a larger and more complex hospital, which was also carried out while the hospital was in operation and did not affect the continuous operation. At this point, I would like to thank all the employees of the hospital, without whose tolerance, support and cooperation the entire reconstruction could not have taken place. I would also like to thank the patients for their patience who may have temporarily perceived the increased noise level of the construction. At the same time as the reconstruction, the future growth of the hospital was planned with a view to the next years and thus the conditions were created to start the next stage of the development of the Hořovice hospital, when it is planned to add more buildings to the premises. The first and very nice-looking new building on the premises is the already commissioned company nursery.
So what are the most important projects for the coming years?
The project currently being completed is a parking lot for patients, which will be followed by the improvement of the access roads to the hospital after its opening.
In the first half of 2018, the construction of another new building will be completed, which will be used for the long-term intensive treatment of seriously ill children, making this ward a unique facility in the Czech Republic in terms of its appearance, importance and the nature of the care provided.
Furthermore, earthworks have already begun in the area between the gatehouse and the transfusion ward, where a new wing of outpatient clinics will soon be built, and where some of the clinics still located in the main building will move to when it is completed later this year.
The construction of a new archive for the documentation of all the hospital's medical equipment is also planned. With the growth of the hospital and the number of patients being treated, we are increasingly experiencing overcrowding in some areas, especially the operating theatres, and a lack of space for the operating theatres, so the main project for future years will be to extend the hospital building to provide new space for the operating theatres and their facilities, including additional beds for seriously ill patients and for patients in the operating theatres.
In the future, a new central reception will also be built in conjunction with the change of the main entrance to the hospital. This is a plan for many years, but the first stage of this project is already underway. A fifth operating theatre is being built and, as can be seen from the outside, new circulation corridors are also under construction around the existing central operating theatre complex, which will connect these theatres to the new building in the future.
Is there anything you have not done well or would have done differently?
Of course I have. He who does not make mistakes does not exist. I don't think I've done everything right at all, but I try to stick to a few principles so that I can look back at any time without fear. I don't make decisions on impulse, preferring to reconsider my decisions from different sides, and I make my decisions without regard to my personal benefit, always for the benefit of the hospital. In doing so, I try to align the interest of the hospital owner with the interest of the staff and our patients.
Do you feel a lack of qualified medical staff in Hořovice? Which specialties are affected and how do you solve it?
I am sorry that I will not be able to answer the last question optimistically. The staffing situation in the Czech healthcare system is very bad and unfortunately it is getting worse. The Hořovice hospital is no exception, it is perhaps just an island of relative and temporary peace for the time being, but the problems with the lack of medical staff are affecting us more and more and will certainly make it more difficult for us to grow the hospital as planned.
There are many reasons for the dismal state of the Czech health workforce. First and foremost are the long-standing undervaluation of the salaries and wages of doctors and nurses. This has left more money for the level of healthcare, which is now at a Western European level in the Czech Republic, thanks to this proportion of healthcare workers. At the same time, however, many capable health professionals have gone abroad or out of the health sector altogether, and instead of support from the state, there has been an unconceptual change in the training of health professionals. These changes have made the path to full qualification much more difficult, especially for middle-level health personnel.
The factors that have led to the current situation are much more numerous and complex than can be described in this response. What is both significant and alarming is the fact that it is only thanks to the dedication of the majority of the medical staff, who at least in our hospital go above and beyond the call of duty, that the gravity of the situation of the shortage of doctors and nurses has not yet fallen as fully on patients as it would have without these efforts. The shortage of medical staff has led to competition between hospitals, with the more capable ones outbidding each other.
Hořovice hospital is doing well so far compared to its surroundings, but the possibilities for the hospital management and owner to influence this trend are not unlimited. Finally, and in the context of the previous sentences, I would like, as in each of the previous New Year's talks, to thank our employees, not only the doctors and nurses, the lab technicians and other medical staff, but also the helpers, the orderlies and other technical staff, the kitchen staff and the drivers, because each of them is of indisputable importance to the hospital, and without any of them the collective would lose its strength and the Hořovice hospital its reputation.
