The construction project of the national rehabilitation center of the Varaždinske Toplice Special Hospital has been completed
The final conference of the EU project "Construction and equipping of a national rehabilitation center for people with diseases and spinal cord injuries" was held in the Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation in Varaždinska Toplica.
- A total of EUR 18,369,467.63 was invested in the modern center with a gross area of 6,720 square meters and a capacity of 75 beds and an additional five beds in the day hospital. Of this, it is from the European Fund for Regional Development as part of the Operational Program "Competitiveness and Cohesion 2014 - 2020." provided non-refundable 11,015,993.10 euros, the Ministry of Health allocated 6,582,941.80 euros, and the Special Hospital provided 770,532.73 euros. This successfully implemented project marks a key moment in the improvement of health care and care for people with injuries and diseases of the spinal cord and highlights the importance of such initiatives for the national health system - said the director of the Special Hospital Varaždinske Toplice, MD. Denis Kovačić.
Today we are here to mark the formal completion of the large and important construction project of the National Rehabilitation Center, and the ceremonial opening will be held next week, announced Prefect Anđelko Stričak.
- The fact that this investment is worth almost 18.4 million euros or almost 140 million kunas clearly speaks of the importance of this center, not only for the City of Varaždinske Toplice and Varaždinske County, but for the entire Republic of Croatia. We are developing the special hospital in Varaždinske Toplice through several areas. And while we are talking with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs about repurposing a part of it into a veterans' center in the future, we are talking with the Croatian Olympic Committee about organizing rehabilitation and recovery for top athletes right here. We plan to convert the Minerva accommodation facility into a hotel that will have four stars instead of the current two. All this speaks volumes about the importance of the Varaždinske Toplice, this hospital and the direction we are heading towards - stressed Prefect Stričak.
Congratulations were sent by the director of the Central Agency for Financing and Contracting of Programs and Projects of the European Union, Dragan Jelić.
- This is a project that will facilitate the rehabilitation of all persons with injuries or diseases of the spinal cord and give them and their families new hope for recovery. It is really a pleasure to be here at the final conference, because the project was implemented without any major problems and should be an example of how to do healthcare projects in the Republic of Croatia. The project is worth more than 18 million euros, of which more than 11 million euros were co-financed from EU funds. Looking at the total, Varaždin County invested more than 33 million euros in healthcare projects. It doesn't stop there, since a few months ago a contract was signed on the allocation of non-reimbursed EU funds from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for the construction and equipping of the central operating block in Varaždin General Hospital - said Dragan Jelić.
The Director of the Directorate for Financial Affairs and Public Procurement of the Ministry of Health, Gordan Žanić, also congratulated the successfully implemented project.
- It is nice to be at the final conference, which means that we have reached the very end of an extremely demanding and large project, which was realized in synergy with the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Health, Varaždin County and the Special Hospital. We managed to reach the end and show other stakeholders of the health care system how to achieve excellence, such as the Special Hospital Varaždinske Toplice became a center of excellence for all people who have problems with spinal cord injuries - stated Žanić.
The final conference was also attended by Deputy Prefect Silvija Zagorec, Head of the Administrative Department for Health, Social Welfare, Civil Society and Croatian Veterans Ljubica Božić, members of the Special Hospital Administrative Council, councilors of the County Assembly of Varaždin County, employees of the Special Hospital and other guests.