The Bojnice Hospital found equipment and furnishings in storage dating back to the 1960s. (source: Pexels)
Prievidza Hospital located in Bojnice, western Slovakia, has undergone several changes in recent months. It now has a new emergency department, and the main entrance to the hospital has been reconstructed. Following that, the facility focused on the entrance to the main building, returning to the original intention of connecting the hospital with art.
This led to the creation of an exhibition space and a retro doctor's office.
As director Peter Glatz recalled, the facility was established in 1961, and artistic works have been an integral part of the hospital from the beginning.
Visual smog removed
Over time, the vestibule of the main building accumulated a lot of visual pollution. The hospital has been gradually getting rid of it in recent times.
"We restored the original appearance to the entrance vestibule as it was designed. We allowed the light to shine through the stained glass windows. We revealed the original, clean, marble walls," described Glatz.
The hospital went on to create an exhibition space in the vestibule, and currently, an exhibition of works by students from Bojnice primary art school can be seen.
The room at the entrance, where the information desk was originally located was cleaned up, and a retro doctor's office was established there. In the hospital's storage, employees found a lot of old furniture and items – writing desk, typewriter, lamps, bed, stethoscope, spirometre, blood pressure monitor, and glass syringes.
"We wanted to show people entering the hospital what healthcare and equipment looked like when the hospital first opened," explained the director.
What has changed?
Many people, upon seeing the office, would say that not much has changed in hospitals and doctors' offices since the sixties.
"Of course, today, you can find this furniture not only in ours but also in several other healthcare facilities. But I assume it's just furniture. And in that furniture, there are different medications and modern medical devices," concluded Glatz.
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