Five modern operating theatres and a surgical intensive care unit in the new "J" pavilion of the Chomutov Hospital have started their operation. As from May 27, 2024, all the healthcare facilities of Krajská zdravotní, a.s. are already in full operation. The emergency department, central operating theatres, central sterilization and anaesthesiology department with ICU were gradually opened for patients from the beginning of April. Together with the new pavilion in the Děčín Hospital, the new building in the Chomutov Hospital is among the most modern buildings in the healthcare sector in the entire Ústí region. Its implementation significantly improved and accelerated the care for patients. In both hospitals, both in Chomutov and in Děčín, we participated in the implementation of central sterilization unit with our modern devices.
The total cost of the new pavilion in the Chomutov Hospital exceeded CZK 880 million, of which CZK 150 million was contributed by a subsidy from the European Funds (specifically, the Integrated Regional Operational Program). The highest sum was covered by investment support from the Ústí Region and an investment loan from Komerční banka, which was drawn by Krajská zdravotní, a.s. to provide for its investment plans.
The company Krajská zdravotní, a.s. was established in 2007 by transformation of five hospitals into one unit. Five hospitals, before the transformation as separate entities under the competence of the Ústí Region, turned from contribution organizations into spin-off plants of Krajská zdravotní, a.s. In concrete terms, these include Děčín Hospital, Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem, Teplice Hospital, Most Hospital and Chomutov Hospital. From 2021, Litoměřice Hospital and also the hospital in Rumburk as a detached workplace of the Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem form a part of Krajská zdravotní, a.s. With regard to the geographical distribution in the region, the hospitals of Krajská zdravotní, a.s. form the backbone of healthcare facilities for the entire Ústí Region.
Based on the transformation of hospitals, it was decided to significantly change the way of organization and arrangement of health care provision in the region. Thus, a unique medical facility was created, through which the citizens of the Ústí Region are provided with an accessible and at the same time maximally efficient and economical network, which provides health care whose quality corresponds to the most modern trends in medicine.
The company Krajská zdravotní, a.s. with more than nine thousand employees, is one of the largest health care providers in the Czech Republic and the largest employer in the Ústí Region. It is interesting that Krajská zdravotní, a.s. in cooperation with the Faculty of Health Studies of the J.E. Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem built a new interdisciplinary 3D printing laboratory this year. The unique workplace aims to introduce the method of 3D printing models into routine use for preoperative planning and teaching. The benefits of the new laboratory will mainly be for patients.
This is mainly about shortening the operating time, reducing blood losses, reducing the surgical intervention in the patient's body and faster recovery. MUDr. Tomáš Novotný, Ph.D., MBA, the chief doctor of the orthopaedic clinic at the Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem, who, together with other fellow surgeons and specialists, is behind the project of the new laboratory, assumes interconnection of science and teaching with practical application. It is expected that six surgical departments of the Masaryk Hospital in Ústí will be involved first, and then there will be performed further expansion of the laboratory's capacity for other hospitals.
In the Czech Republic, the scope and interdisciplinary connection of the new workplace is completely unique, unlike abroad. Top technicians from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Czech Technical University and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic will provide supervision here. Models of bones and organs for pre-operative planning and also for teaching will be created on a new Czech-made printer.
What does the 3D printing in preoperative planning mean in practice? Based on the data from the computed tomography, the doctor can print on the printer the part of the body that he plans to operate on - for example, a damaged or deformed bone, vertebra, pelvis, skull or even a tumour or inflammatory focus inside an organ or bone. On it, the surgeon can try out the planned therapy before the operation and visualize otherwise inaccessible structures, possibly finding out exactly their relationship to healthy or undamaged tissue.
At the Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem, the 3D printing is currently used at a top level directly for therapy, namely for individualized implants, such as replacements for skeletal defects in orthopaedics, replacements for skull defects in neurosurgery or for the construction of splints in maxillofacial surgery, i.e. in the field dealing with surgery of the oral cavity, jaws and face.
Another interesting and successful achievement is the acquisition of Diamond status for the Chomutov Hospital stroke centre. This is an international project of the Angels Initiative, the main goal of which is to increase the number of stroke patients treated in specialized centres and to optimize the quality of treatment and care. As a part of the project, ten measuring features are monitored, which evaluate the level of logistics within the centre and the quality of the medical and nursing care provided. Depending on the degree to which the individual criteria are fulfilled, the hospital can reach one of three ranges - gold, platinum or diamond, the highest. In the Czech Republic, 10 hospitals received the highest grade, including two from Krajská zdravotní, a.s. The high level of treatment and nursing care for stroke patients was awarded with the Diamond status for the stroke centre of the Chomutov Hospital and the stroke centre of the Teplice Hospital. The prestigious award was given to both of the centres as a part of the world congress that took place at the end of last year.
The emergency department is a completely newly established department in the hospital that will fundamentally affect the patient's trajectory through the hospital. Its basic philosophy is to ensure the availability of acute health care in one place, regardless of the severity of the patient's condition. It is a so-called thresholdless emergency unit. From there, the medical staff will send the patient to the relevant departments, or examine him/her on the spot and immediately call a specialist doctor.
The history of central sterilization and central operating theatres in the Chomutov Hospital dates back to 1985. Subsequent modernization and reorganization took place in 2005 and last year.
The Central Sterilization Department is thus newly equipped with 3 steam sterilizers (BMT), 1 plasma sterilizer (MMM) and 4 washers (Miele/Steelco). In the hospital, low-temperature sterilization is now ensured by the MMM plasma sterilizer.
In general, sterilization is an essential element in the prevention of nosocomial infections in healthcare facilities and is an integral part of providing safe healthcare. That is why we are glad that we were also able to participate in the construction of this modern workplace and thus obtain another important reference in this region.
26. 06. 2024