Prague, November 24, 2022 – Modern accommodation facilities will now be available at FN Motol for families of long-term hospitalized children. In the house, they will be able to use a common room, a children's playroom, a common study, kitchen facilities, a laundry room and a drying room. The house has a capacity of 21 rooms with their own accessories and storage spaces and should reach full occupancy from about February 2023.
The university hospital in Motola has long supported and promoted the presence of parents to the highest possible extent, taking into account the complexity of medical and nursing care, so that it can be provided with the highest possible quality. Thanks to the new accommodation facility, not only parents, but also siblings or grandparents can be close to a sick child. If a small patient's health allows it, he can stay with his family or loved ones outside the hospital room and at the same time on the hospital premises.
In most departments of FN Motol, one of the legal representatives of a sick child can currently be hospitalized if he meets the legal conditions (age up to 6 years, at older age, the recommendation of the attending physician approved by the health insurance company). In other cases, the continuous presence of the parent is possible, with the exception of operating theaters and their facilities, as well as in the case of special examination methods and highly specialized departments (e.g. ARO or Intensive and Resuscitation Care Unit).
Parents of children hospitalized at all children's clinics can apply for accommodation in the new house, i.e. Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Clinic, Pediatric Cardiocenter, Pediatric Surgery Clinic, Pediatric Neurology Clinic, Pediatric and Adult Orthopedics and Traumatology Clinic, Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic and Pediatric Clinic.
The main criteria for accommodation of family members and relatives of children's patients of Motol Hospital will be the length of hospitalization and also the distance of residence from the hospital. Nursing staff will provide parents with accommodation options and will issue a confirmation of the approximate length of hospitalization. The parent's further communication will then take place directly with the accommodation facility. Of course, the hospital dormitory with a capacity of 60 beds will continue to operate for parents and relatives of hospitalized children.
Neither the hospital nor the families will have to pay for the stay, operating and maintenance costs will be covered by donors. In mid-December, approximately 50% of the total accommodation capacity is expected to be occupied, and from February the building should be operating at 100%.
Miloslav Ludvík, Director of the Motol Technical University
"We are the largest children's hospital in the Czech Republic, so the issue of the presence of a parent with a hospitalized child affects us very intensely. We believe that the presence of a loved one is very important for a child and indispensable in the process of his recovery. This new accommodation facility, which was built in our hospital complex, will also help with this. It is the first time in the Czech Republic that modern accommodation has been built on the land of a state medical facility and at the same time with private funds in such a layout that whole families can stay together. The entire building was really very complicated not only for many administrative reasons, but also for legal and operational reasons."
Vlastimil Válek, Minister of Health
"As a doctor, I know that a good mental state and well-being are essential factors in the treatment of pediatric patients. The presence of parents or family members also clearly helps with this. With this, I would like to thank the Ronald McDonald House Foundation, thanks to which it is possible to open an accommodation facility for families of long-term hospitalized children here, right on the premises of the Faculty Hospital in Motola.
Lucie Šrámková, head of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of the UK and the Motol FN
"At the Children's Hematology and Oncology Clinic, around 250 children with cancer are diagnosed every year, and they undergo treatment lasting many months and sometimes years. We take care of children from all over the Czech Republic and, in some specialized medical procedures, also children from abroad. That is why we very much welcome the additional possibility of housing children and their families directly on the hospital grounds, which will make this extremely challenging period easier and more pleasant for them."
Jan Starý, emeritus head of the Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology of the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of the University of Warsaw and the Motol Medical University
"The University Hospital in Motola concentrates pediatric patients with selected diagnoses from all over the Czech Republic. By opening the Ronald McDonald House, it became one of the world's major hospitals that offer families with seriously ill children to stay together on the hospital premises in a situation where the children's hospitalization is not necessary, but they require intensive outpatient monitoring and treatment.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
February 2018 Agreement on a joint plan to build and long-term operation of the house
April 2019 Laying of the foundation stone
November 2022 Grand opening
Total investment approx. 78 million CZK
General sponsor DRMCD Endowment Fund
Media Contact:
Pavlína Danková, phone: 724 227 503, e-mail: pavlina.dankova@fnmotol.cz
Press release for download: A new house for families of seriously ill children at Motol Hospital (465 kB)
