First of its kind in Estonia €104-million central hospital opens in Viljandi
While a much talked-about central hospital in Tallinn has been mired in politics for several years, the South Estonian town of Viljandi now has a county hospital, the first to be planned and built from scratch since the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991.
The hospital and its Tervikum health center bring together specialists and family doctors, hospital and rehabilitation services, and diagnostics under one roof and will employ around 500 people.
Priit Tampere, board chair at SA Viljandi Hospital, said: "We will look at hospital services, family doctor services, and social services together as a whole, and in fact, a patient doesn't need one, the other, or a third system to solve their problems — very often, it's the combination of all these people that is needed. This building supports that. A house designed and planned in this way is certainly the first of its kind. Many services are shared between family doctors and the hospital, for example diagnostics."
Construction at the site in Viljandi got underway four years ago and cost €104 million. The process was not hitch-free; the original construction firm backed out, meaning a new one had to be found, which bumped up the final price tag.
Other events such as the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine also made their influence known.
"There were about four or five times when everything could have come to a halt, and we've faced all sorts of obstacles. From financing and construction prices to Covid and certainly also the events in Ukraine. If we talk about the original budget, we've certainly exceeded it significantly due to the rise in construction costs, but with the latest planned budget, we're managing just fine," Tampere went on.
Tampere was joined by Viljandi mayor Johan-Kristjan Konovalov (Reform) in welcoming the long-awaited hospital.
He called it "truly a historic day for the city of Viljandi and actually for the whole of Viljandi County, as we can finally move out of the large complex in the village of Jämejala, which has already gone a little bit bigger than our area. This has been awaited for years, so this new building is definitely a reasonable, suitably sized, and truly very, very high-quality facility for us," said Konovalov.
The hospital will fully open in August, once interiors are finished.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Johanna Alvin
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"
