Prague, February 23, 2023 – The history of the largest Czech hospital began in the 30s. At that time, land in Prague's Motol was purchased by the hospital fund. In 20 and 1937, preparatory work for the construction of a hospital facility with a capacity of 1938 beds began.
After the occupation of the Sudetenland and then the territory of the Second Republic by Nazi Germany, there was a need to ensure sufficient civilian beds in Prague for Czechs as well. The original plan of the district hospital was therefore simplified and in 1941 it was decided to build a temporary barracks hospital in Motola. The price of the building was 30 million protectorate crowns, the price of the internal equipment was 6 million. Partial operation of the hospital began at the beginning of January 1943. The primaries were mostly occupied by professors whose clinics were closed as a result of the closure of Czech universities.
The maximum lifespan of the hospital was considered to be 10 years, and therefore wood, blocks and bricks were used as the main building materials. Even so, some buildings were used for medical purposes until 1997 and still stand today.
In 1948, the Masaryk Institute building was attached to the Motol hospital. It was used to treat lupus using concentrated sunlight. After the connection, the entire building with a capacity of one hundred beds was intended for the treatment of infectious hepatitis, and it still houses the Infectious Diseases Department, structurally separate from the other buildings.
The years were a period of growth for the hospital, many new laboratory departments and clinics were created here. The first investment task for the construction of the Municipal Hospital in Motola was drawn up already in 1953. The project preparation was accompanied by a large number of delays. However, paradoxically, they brought many positive changes to the project as a result. The project was architecturally conceived as a whole, the basis of which are two high-floor monoblocks, one for the treatment of children and the other for the treatment of adults, connected by a building with complementary workplaces and laboratories needed for both parts. The construction of the hospital in Motola in its modern form began with the laying of the foundation stone on April 23, 1964. From the beginning, the construction was faced with a number of technical and organizational problems. The children's hospital in Karlovy Vary was to be demolished by 1969, and there was a real danger that the children's monoblock would not be completed on time.
In 1961, the hospital construction project was approved. The project had an approximate cost of 263 million Czechoslovak crowns, which, however, turned out to be significantly underestimated during construction, and the final price exceeded 874 million Czechoslovak crowns. Events connected with the entry of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia and the subsequent normalization brought further complications. In 1968, the hospital took over wing A of the new monoblock, in 1969 wing B. Wing C was handed over only after the ceremonial opening of the hospital, which took place on December 9, 1970. The planned completion of the first building was in December 1975. As part of the completion of the complex, a a nursing home with 750 beds and a covered parking lot with spaces for 500 cars.
In 1981, a new pavilion was opened at the gynecology-obstetrics ward, which was built in action Z in 18 months.
In 1986, the Hospital for the Long-Term Sick building was opened on the hospital premises. Prague thus received an additional 390 beds with all the necessary social equipment. In the eight-story building, patients had access to specially adapted bathrooms, rehabilitation facilities and a dental office.
According to the original plans, the rough construction, which was to consist of a monoblock for adults with 810 beds, the buildings of the entrance block and the polyclinic, was to begin as early as 1976. However, the foundation stone was not laid until ten years later, on November 19, 1986. The expected price was 4,5 billions of Czechoslovak crowns and a completion date of 1992. Even the construction of this building was accompanied by many unplanned complications, and during its course there were fundamental changes to the project. At the end of 1989, a change in the political situation in the country interfered with the construction, and the fate of the hospital was uncertain. The new 1414-bed adult monoblock was finally inaugurated after ten years of construction on 28 November 1996. The financial costs of the completion reached 6,72 billion Czech crowns.
In 1997, the building of the oncology center was opened, which was built since 1991 on the initiative of the head of the Department of Pediatric Oncology, Professor Josef Koutecký.
On December 15, 1999, the pavilion of the Rehabilitation Clinic was inaugurated.
In 2006, a large-scale reconstruction of the children's part of the hospital was started, the condition of which was in a state of emergency and which endangered patients and staff. The ceremonial opening of the newly renovated building took place on June 24, 2011, the total cost was 3,15 billion crowns. Currently, the children's part of the hospital is worthy of the requirements of the advanced health care of the 21st century, there are reconstructed bed wings, modern operating rooms, an emergency reception and a workplace of imaging methods. One of the benefits of the reconstruction and at the same time interesting elements of the reconstructed building of the children's section is also the heliport located on the roof directly above the operating theatres.
In the next stage, the polyclinic building at the children's hospital was reconstructed, the ceremonial opening of which took place on December 6, 12.
In 2020, the irradiation facilities were renovated and modernized according to the most modern European standards.
Currently, the University Hospital in Motola is one of the largest European facilities of its kind. The campus consists of land with an area of approximately 348 m². You will find a total of 000 clinics and 55 departments. The hospital has 70 employees and 6 beds. More than one million patients are treated on an outpatient basis here annually.
Currently, the building of the adult part of the hospital is undergoing reconstruction of the cladding and a complete replacement of the windows, with completion scheduled for the end of this year. Other planned projects are the educational Simulation Center, scheduled for completion in 2025, and the Oncology Center, whose doors should open to patients in the first half of 2026.
Media Contact:
Pavlína Danková, phone: 724 227 503, e-mail: pavlina.dankova@fnmotol.cz
Source:
Cermák, F, Paul, G. Barák Hospital in Prague - Motole. In: Czech Hospital, Year XII, No. 7, 1942, pp. 113-127.
Svobodný, P., Hlaváčková, L. Prague hospitals and hospitals. Lidové noviny Publishing House, Prague 1999. 179 p.
Veselý, M., Hlaváčková, L. University Hospital in Prague – Motole. Charles University, Prague 1988.
100 years since the opening of the Czech Children's Hospital 1902 – 2002. PR FNM
Press release for download: Motolská hospital is commemorating 80 years since its establishment (371 kB)
