The start of the new decade was rather eventful for the patients of Krakow University Hospital, as they had to travel through both space and time. Transported by ambulance in special convoys escorted by the police, they left the historic wards of the city centre and moved to a brand-new, shimmering white hospital in the suburbs, spanning two centuries in one go. No sooner had they moved in than the coronavirus crisis struck, resulting in the hospital immediately being divided into isolation wards. In short, it instantly became what future health institutions will have to be from now on. Meanwhile, Krakow hospital is on the cutting edge of global technology. It is also an example of what a university, a country and the European Union can do together when they align goals and means. As always, JASPERS was their common point of contact.
The Background
Until 2019, the hospital comprised 25 pavilions dotted around the old town, often located in the middle of lovely parks. In Krakow, culture and history are everywhere, even in hospitals. The Jagiellonian University to which the hospital is connected, is one of the oldest universities in the world, founded 700 years ago, and it has had students such as Copernicus in 1491, and in the 1950s, Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II.
Over the years, despite many efforts to see the hospital modernised, it proved impossible to make these pavilions compatible with the conditions of modern medicine and the advent of new technologies, especially as many of the pavilions have UNESCO World Heritage designation. So, at the start of the new century, the Polish Parliament decided to finance a new hospital in Krakow, which is set to become a centre of excellence and a powerhouse for the region and the entire country. It was a result of long-lasting efforts of the University authorities, which started as early as in the 1950ss, to locate a medical campus, including the main University Hospital, in Prokocim, in the Eastern part of Krakow.
The challenge
The Polish government decided to provide half of the finance for the new hospital, estimated at over € 300 millions, with the other half to be mobilised for by the university. The government had already secured a framework loan from the EIB some years previously, which can be used to finance healthcare infrastructure across the country. But how could a university, which is a not-for-profit organisation, raise that much money? By applying for € 70 millions in EU subsidies – a quarter of the total cost – with JASPERS’ free of charge support.
It should be noted that healthcare occupies a special status in the EU budget. Firstly, healthcare is not one of the competences of the European Union. It remains within the sovereign domain of the Member States. Until now it was considered an advantage made available by countries’ social systems and therefore a cost. However, as the European Union's budget is designed to boost growth in our struggling economies – green, socially inclusive growth, of course – it was decided for the programming period 2014-2020 that it could be used to finance medical equipment, but not healthcare buildings infrastructure – as a matter of principle.
The action
The University of Krakow therefore sold several historic pavilions, belonging to the old hospital, to the Municipality of Krakow, in order to be able to complete the infrastructure component of the financing plan for which it was responsible.
Between the design of the new hospital, the architectural competition, the sale of pavilions and the application for EU subsidies, there were many twists and turns for the university with regard to this project. The first official application for EU subsidies received a series of recommendations so that it could align the project with the criteria laid down by the European Union.
JASPERS role
With JASPERS’ support, the university made amendments and managed to break the deadlock in the space of three months. As is often the case, JASPERS’ role was as technical as it was diplomatic since it enabled different worlds that speak and think differently – local, national and European – to understand each other and align. The subsidies were granted and disbursed in full by the European Union in 2020.
The results
The new hospital – which is white and very futuristic in terms of design – opened its doors to patients in November 2019 . The hospital complex has 925 new beds, in addition to the neighbouring University Paediatric Hospital, reaching1300 beds altogether. The University Hospital works on 24 operating theatre suites, 28 inpatient departments, eight research units, highly specialised laboratories and state-of-the-art medical imaging units. The medical campus to which the hospitals belong also comprises a Faculty of Pharmacology and an old library that has been turned into a modern teaching facility. Eventually, it will also accommodate an obstetrics department and a neurology unit. The University Hospital itself will have capacity for some 60 000 hospital admissions and for more than 350 000 outpatient consultations each year. This is a major asset for the people in this region and for modern medicine.
And yet, just after the new hospital was inaugurated, a field hospital had to be set up next to it, to deal with the coronavirus pandemic; several units had to be isolated, and others had to be adapted to tackle infectious diseases using whatever means were at hand.
The new hospital was well prepared to cope with the exponential demand for medical care, which has been a common trend in the past decades. Yet, since it opened its doors, people have been avoiding hospitals as much as possible and in three weeks doctors have set up online consultations on a massive scale. In recent years, the European Union has conducted a number of conclusive studies designed to foster teleconsultations, opening up numerous options. None of them had yet been acted upon due to popular demand that has turned into political pressure. The coronavirus pandemic has changed the game.
The European Union and its people keep evolving, and that’s a good thing. JASPERS’ health experts are moving in the same direction. Healthcare in the European Union could also take on greater importance because it is becoming increasingly clear that unwavering cross-border solidarity is the only thing that can slow down the virus.
Meanwhile, Krakow Hospital is and will long remain a model of its type.