Senator Oberfalzer visiting the Beroun hospital

23.3.2009

"You have done a great job and it is necessary for everyone to be aware of how the hospital looked before and how it looks today - and especially that all those black forecasts accompanying the change of ownership were just scaring people," was one of the sentences Senator Jiří Oberfalzer used to comment on his visit to the Beroun hospital on 19 March. As he stressed, he was very happy to accept the invitation of the owner of the hospital, Sotirios Zavalianis, to visit.

Accompanied by him, he saw both the modern newly reconstructed part of the hospital and the premises that are still a construction site. He was convinced that the revitalisation of the hospital is really thorough and that large amounts of money are being invested not only in its appearance and equipment, but also, for example, in the renewal of all the networks and wiring, which no one sees anymore.

In the Aftercare Department, Senator Oberfalzer not only saw the modern equipment, which actually presents how the whole Beroun hospital should look like, but also verified in a debate with the patients that they are very satisfied with the environment and the care.

In a discussion with Sotirios Zavalianis and the hospital's director Natasha Bortel, Senator Oberfalzer learned about all the investments made so far, which have already cost the owners more than 100 million crowns, as well as about future plans. "I want the hospital to be really nice and modern and for people to have the best care here, without having to worry about having to pay for everything, as they used to say," the owner of the hospital replied when asked whether single rooms, equipped with, among other things, a quality reclining bed or a television, are extra.

"We provide a public service like them, but nobody gives me anything compared to state hospitals, I have to finance everything myself. And I am very sorry about that," Zavalianis said, adding that he is also convinced that the same amount of work done in Beroun would cost many times more in a state hospital and might be of a worse quality. He and Senator Oberfalzer agreed that the state was often not the best steward, as on many other things. He said that he was looking forward to seeing the premises, which he had passed through on the day of his visit among tools and bundles of cables, in full splendour in the autumn, during the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Beroun hospital.