Neither J&T nor Penta interested in new hospital

AFTER two delays, the Health Ministry has ultimately closed applications for the construction and 30-year operation of a new university hospital in Bratislava.

Illustrative stock photoIllustrative stock photo (Source: Sme)

No key potential bidders from Slovakia showed interest in taking part in the process, the Sme daily reported in its April 1 issue.

The Health Ministry originally slated the deadline for sending the applications to the end of February, but then postponed it to March 17. It finally waited until the end of the month. The project has attracted seven candidates, ministry spokeswoman Zuzana Čižmáriková confirmed to Sme.

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The seven bidders were mentioned also by Ján Králik of the Institute of Health Policy at the Health Ministry, who introduced the plan for a new hospital, back in January. He said it is an acceptable number for the competitive dialogue.

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Though Čižmáriková did not reveal more details about the potential bidders, it is sure that the biggest investors from Slovakia, who showed their interest in project last autumn, are not among them. 

Read also: Health Ministry seeks investor Read more 

“J&T Real Estate has currently other priorities; we will not attend the aforementioned competition,” company’s spokeswoman Katarína Krajňáková told Sme.

Penta financial group, whose Svet Zdravia controls the biggest hospital network in the country, including 14 medical facilities, will also not take part in the process. Spokesman Gabriel Tóth argued that the project is poorly prepared. He specified that the hospital’s location at Patrónka is flawed, the payment mechanism unclear, and that the funding of the project is risky, as reported by Sme.

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Agel which runs five hospitals here failed to say whether it wants to compete for the project, Sme wrote.

The main condition for qualifying for the bidding process, set in January, was to have experience with a similar project, building and operating a hospital with a minimum size of 30,000 square metres and an investment standing at €100 million. Such hospitals also need to have at least 200 beds and 13,000 completed hospitalisations per year.

The winner of the whole competition will be responsible for the construction, financing and 30-year operation of the new modern facility worth €200-250 million.

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