Horažďovice will have a private home for the elderly with 120 beds

SeneCura SeniorCentrum Chotěboř - opened on August 31, 2021

Horažďovice (Klatovy) – In the five-thousand-strong town of Horažďovice, which has been trying for 18 years to establish a necessary home for seniors, a private facility with 120 beds will be created. The SeniorCentrum will be built and operated by SeneCura, the largest non-state provider of residential social services in the Czech Republic. Representatives of the company signed a contract with the city today. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of next year, and the first clients are likely to move in by the end of summer 2023.

A three-story building will be constructed on vacant city land at the back of the site, which also houses the regional hospital with a long-term care unit. After the building is approved, SeneCura will purchase the land. "I think this symbiosis will work because the hospital is currently having problems with social beds, and those people who are lying there could be in the new home," said Mayor Michael Forman (ObčanéHD). There will be about 80 beds for seniors requiring special care, such as those with Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia, which are on the rise. The rest will be standard senior beds.

"There has long been a lack of facilities in the field of residential social services in Horažďovice and the surrounding area," said Deputy Mayor Hana Kalná (ObčanéHD). According to her, all beds will be included in the regional subsidy network, and clients will pay the same amount as in other facilities in the Plzeň Region.

"What will be specific for Horažďovice is the arrangement in the form of households, where a common space is shared by a group of clients who know each other," said Dita Chrastilová, the managing director of SeneCura. "There will be single and double rooms with their own sanitary facilities," added development manager Ondřej Plšek. The SeniorCentrum will also feature a chapel, a hairdresser, a wellness and fitness center, a therapeutic garden, and communal terraces. Everything will be accessible to seniors who are not residents of the center.

"This is actually the first facility in the Plzeň Region created on the basis of cooperation between a private company and the state. SeniorCentra in Telč and Chotěboř already operate on the same principle," said SeneCura's media representative Jana Barčáková. According to her, the SeniorCentrum will also create dozens of new jobs for caregivers, nurses, cooks, and other staff. Forman estimated their number at 60.

The city previously had its own project for a home, building permits, a contractor, and a pre-negotiated loan. However, the costs were 230 million crowns three years ago, and the councilors ultimately canceled the tender. SeneCura did not utilize the city's project; it has its own standardized and verified model. "They say they want to realize it for 150 to 180 million. It's realistic because they will have significantly less built-up space. They don't need as many offices; they have central human resources, accounting, and purchasing, and from experience, they manage the spaces for doctors, nurses, service personnel, and rehabilitation differently," added Mayor Forman.