The representatives of the Zlín Region could vote on the hospital in April

Zlín – The representatives of the Zlín Region may decide on the investment plan for a new regional hospital in Zlín-Malenovice at the April council meeting. This was stated to journalists today by Governor Radim Holiš (ANO). The council was originally supposed to address the plan, which was advocated by former Governor Jiří Čunek (KDU-ČSL), last December and subsequently at the upcoming meeting on Monday; however, the materials being prepared by the regional office are still not ready. According to the governor, they were waiting for the accounting closure of last year, and now expert assessments will still need to be commissioned. The materials should be completed by April.

The new leadership of the region has previously criticized the project, and on Monday the regional councilors canceled the public contract for the designer of the new hospital. Holiš stated today that this step had been prepared for some time. According to him, the selection process was not proper for several reasons. "Whether it was the amount of the fee set for the design work, the system and method of the competition, where the contract was prepared by a company or person who was then chosen as the winner," said the governor.

The previous regional councilors selected the "New Hospital - Zlín" consortium as the winner of the design contract, in which two companies participated, for the bid price of 351 million crowns excluding VAT. The Office for the Protection of Competition already decided last year that the competition was in order. According to Holiš, the winner of the contract has 15 days to respond to the cancellation of the contract. The regional leadership has a legal analysis at its disposal, according to which the council's decision will not impose any penalties or damages on the region.

Councilors also relied on an economic analysis when deciding to cancel the contract, which indicated that the region did not have the funds for the new hospital, Holiš stated. Coalition members have previously indicated that they do not want the construction of a new hospital, but rather the reconstruction of the Zlín hospital complex, a variant that Čunek rejected.

Councilors approved the construction of the hospital in the previous electoral term; the region purchased land for it and prepared a contract with the winner of the public contract for the designer, which, however, Čunek did not sign. According to the former governor, the hospital was supposed to cost eight billion crowns. Opponents of the construction also included representatives of the ANO movement, which was in coalition with the People’s Party in the previous electoral term, as well as some representatives of the coalition’s ODS; conversely, some opposition councilors voted for the project. The new hospital was a main topic in the regional elections, and representatives of the new coalition of the victorious ANO movement, Pirates, ODS, and ČSSD agreed in their opposition to it.