Health Care: Selection Of National Development Projects

Executive summary
Commitment to eliminate the disparity in the quality and capacity of the tertiary health care infrastructure between Slovenia and other EU Member States calls for increased efficiency of healthcare services and skilled health professionals, as well as increased patient mobility between Slovenia and the EU.

Design and construction of healthcare facilities: a new University Medical Centre in Ljubljana with 660 beds and the floor area of 80,000 m² (2011-2015: € 268.9 million). The current University Medical Centre in Ljubljana serves in part as a secondary-level general hospital for the Ljubljana region, and in part as a tertiary institution for the whole of Slovenia. The new healthcare will be located in the immediate vicinity of the Ljubljana-East motorway exit.

The establishment of a new University Medical Centre in Maribor is expected to help reduce shortage of highly-skilled health professionals such as physiotherapists and nurses all over Slovenia. Given the demographic trends, these highly-skilled professionals from the field of healthcare will be of great importance in the future. Foreign investors are welcome both as funders and suppliers for two new departments: oncology and radiotherapy. The project encompasses construction works and equipment supply and installation and the 1st implementation phase is in progress (€ 27 million).

Upgrading the existing network of emergency medical centers in Slovenia has been penciled in to enable optimal speed and efficiency of treatment in a case of emergency and level off the differences between regions. Upgrading and establishing a health care system to deliver life-saving service where acute medical conditions require urgent treatment includes the establishment of emergency medical centers in the university medical centers of Ljubljana and Maribor, as well as in the regional hospitals of Celje, Izola, Jesenice, Murska Sobota, Nova Gorica, Novo Mesto, and Slovenj Gradec. The investment required has been estimated at € 40 million for the network composed of ten such centers to be completed in 2015.

There is a host of investment opportunities for funders, suppliers of goods and engineering and construction companies for the next three years in all general hospitals located in the regional administrative centers all over Slovenia.  With the exception of the investments in Ljubljana (€ 106 million for renovation, refurbishment and construction works), bills range from some 10 to 50 million euros: € 47 million  for the Celje hospital, € 14 million for Jesenice hospital, € 8 million for the Novo Mesto hospital, € 7 million for the nuclear medicine hospital, € 13 million for the Blood Transfusion Institute.

Sustainable use of energy as one of the priority axes co-funded by the EU funds aims to promote more sustainable use of energy with the aim to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and increase the share of renewable energy sources in primary energy. The contracting authority for this latest project, as well as for other healthcare projects, is the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia, and the funding required has been estimated at € 52 million (offers for public-private partnership will have an advantage). The project will focus on energy efficient restoration of the existing healthcare facilities and on efficient use of energy.

In health care systems, information and communication technologies should provide better and more easily accessible health care services to citizens and for healthcare workers they should simplify work and provide quicker access to the necessary information. The focal point of the EU’s e-Health strategy is on health care information systems with the e-Europe and e-Health system improving quality of life of EU citizens as regards health considerations through wider use of communication and information systems. Contract notices for goods and services for the country’s e-Health service system are published according to availability of funding.