The contract for the new IKEM facility is overseen by Transparency International

Prague - The public contract for the construction of a new building for the Prague Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (IKEM) is being overseen by the non-profit organization Transparency International (TI). It will cost about one billion crowns, most of which will come from the state budget. The hospital will cover about 30 percent, said the director of the institute, Michal Stiborek, in an interview with ČTK. IKEM aims to announce the public contract for the construction contractor this spring, with construction expected to last more than 2.5 years.

"Because handling public funds is a sensitive matter, we sought a way to make it as transparent as possible. We approached TI to supervise the entire process. Not just the final procurement documentation but the whole preparation process," Stiborek stated. According to him, representatives from TI oversaw the selection process for the construction manager and are present at all meetings with potential suppliers.

TI focuses on mapping corruption risks and trying to prevent them. "We consult each step with them. The feedback TI has given us has always been beneficial, and we have accepted all of it so far," he added.

Most recently, in 2011 and 2012, the hospital constructed the Center for Experimental Medicine pavilion. In 2015, it announced the first architectural competition for the new pavilions G1 and G2. "Although IKEM is a large hospital, it is not very young anymore. However, it was built well in that it allowed for expansion. We have exhausted the spaces we have. For us, building the new pavilion is a necessary step if we want to continue developing care at IKEM," said Stiborek.

The two new pavilions, located in one building, will house the ARO department, cardiology, metabolic, and angiological intensive care units. The institutional pharmacy, emergency intake, and technical facilities of the hospital will also expand there. "We will gain new beds for cardiology care, where we receive patients from all over the Czech Republic and have relatively long waiting times," he said. According to him, it will also be possible to increase the number of transplants, of which IKEM performed over 500 last year.

The construction will cost 1.08 billion crowns, and additional equipment will cost 185 million crowns. "The reason the price is not significantly higher is that we have tried to reasonably use what we have in other parts of the building. We are only adding equipment that we lack," Stiborek said. The freed-up spaces in the entrance building will be used by IKEM for standard cardiology beds.

The hospital received zoning consent and building permits this January. The procurement documentation for the construction contractor is also ready; IKEM will submit it for comments to the ministry and TI at the end of January. "We expect to announce the tender for the construction contractor sometime in March or April of this year, when we complete negotiations with health insurance companies about the care we want to provide, which they will pay for," he added.

IKEM, located in Prague's Krč, specializes in the treatment of heart diseases, diabetology, and experimental medicine. Its cardiocenter performs over 1300 surgeries a year, including 40 heart transplants, and is the only center in the Czech Republic to have transplanted an artificial heart into a patient.