Česky
Did care in 2022, like the year before, focus mainly on COVID-19 patients?
In the first part of 2022, the COVID-19 epidemic was still lingering and led to a partial reduction in normal hospital operations in January and February. Patients with this disease continue to come to the hospital, but the frequency and severity of the disease has decreased. Patients with severe lung damage and failure of vital functions are now virtually absent. The management strategy for these patients has also changed, and COVID-19 is no longer regarded as a common infectious disease. However, patients have to be isolated and if a single room is not available, this means blocking a multi-bedded room where standard non-infectious patients could have been. Internal wards in particular face a heavier workload.
Could it be said that as COVID-19 was limiting care last year, now it is RS viruses?
Yes and not only these, it is an epidemic of respiratory infections caused by various viruses including influenza. The situation worsened in the last weeks of last year and is peaking these days. The number of patients we have had to hospitalise has exceeded the bed capacity of the internal medicine ward, but thanks to the help of the ward we are managing this onslaught for the time being. We have, of course, introduced preventive measures to prevent the spread of infection, including a ban on visitors to all wards of the hospital. In particular, we encourage patients to protect their respiratory tract and increase hand disinfection.
How would you assess the progress of the past year in terms of care delivery?
The hospital is providing more and more services. We are expanding the range of health services in the outpatient and inpatient areas of the hospital and the interest of patients in our hospital is growing, and I am very pleased about that. All of this is, of course, reflected in the capacity of the hospital in the outpatient and inpatient areas. Fortunately, this situation was foreseen by our owner Mr. Ing. Sotirios Zavalianis, who came up with the idea of expanding the hospital a few years ago, thanks to which we started building a new part of the hospital in advance, which will significantly expand the inpatient capacity of Hořovice Hospital so that we can satisfy more patients in the future. We are currently in the stage of completing the rough construction and the work is continuing despite the problems with the economic and energy crisis in the Czech Republic. This year also saw the expansion of our pharmacy division, with new branches opening in Žebrák and Hořovice on the square.
The expansion of care also includes the Diagnostic Centre in Prague?
The expansion of outpatient care is also planned at the Diagnostic Centre in Prague in Nové Butovice. The centre now provides care mostly to patients who have already been treated in the past at the hospital in Hořovice or Beroun and are from Prague or the surrounding areas. At the same time, a large polyclinic with a wide range of outpatient clinics and diagnostic methods is being prepared for operation in Prague 13.
So what is the vision for the future?
The healthcare activities of AKESO Holding will become even more interconnected to serve as an independent entity providing the most comprehensive care for its patients. The Hořovice Hospital in this unit is mainly an inpatient acute care facility with outpatient facilities, while the Rehabilitation Hospital Beroun provides internal, follow-up and rehabilitation care. The Beroun Mental Rehabilitation Centre will become an integral part of the facility. Highly specialised oncological care is provided in cooperation with the Multiscan Cancer Centre. Last but not least, the Group includes the Diagnostic Centre in Prague Butovice, a number of smaller outpatient facilities of various specialisations and a network of pharmacies. I hope that in the near future we will be able to incorporate the new polyclinic in Prague into our network of healthcare facilities.
There is still a lot of work ahead of us, but I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our employees and colleagues who are bringing our plans to life. Thanks to their tremendous efforts, we have managed the COVID-19 pandemic together and even now we are not living in easy times, yet the medical staff in our hospital are doing their job with gusto, striving to provide the best possible care and are always ready to help the sick and suffering. There are still more challenges ahead that we will have to face again. I am confident that, above all, thanks to the quality of our nurses, doctors, orderlies and other staff, we will be able to complete a work of which we can all be proud.
