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The place where the hospital stands today is historically connected with rehabilitation. More than 20 years ago, there was a post-treatment center and a rehabilitation clinic, which later disappeared. "The project of our hospital went through several transformations before reaching its current form. From May 2022, we started to work more intensively on the rehabilitation hospital project, while the construction itself continued in the fall of 2022 with the ambition to finish the work by June 2023," the director of the AGEL Bratislava Hospital MUDr. Jakub Rybár.

The construction of the hospital was completed in the spring of 2023, with the commissioning beginning in the summer of the same year. "We worked intensively and managed to complete the approval in about four months. In November, we successfully obtained all the necessary permits, including hygienic ones, and we started pilot operation already in December," the director explained, adding that during this period they focused on setting up processes and at the same time accepting the first patients, both inpatient and outpatient. "During Christmas, we carried out a technical shutdown to eliminate the last technical deficiencies, for example problems with heating or air conditioning. From January 2, we have already started full operation of the hospital without any restrictions," added the director MUDr. Jakub Rybár.

STRUCTURE OF THE NEW HOSPITAL

What does it look like inside the new hospital? Already on the ground floor we can find the heart of the hospital – spaces designed for robotic rehabilitation. In addition, there are modern ambulances, an infusion station and a client zone. There are also devices for magnetotherapy and cryotherapy. The first and second floors are reserved for inpatient wards. The third floor houses individual and group gyms, physical therapy and administrative space.

Currently, the hospital has 40 beds in operation within the first phase. "We have sufficient medical staff for the first phase. Our task now is to get a sufficient number of nurses so that we can also open a second inpatient ward," said director Rybár, who sees another perspective in the future in the opening of the palliative care and rheumatology department.

AMBITIOUS GOALS

By the end of this year, the hospital is setting other ambitious goals: to obtain accreditation according to the standards of the Joint Accreditation Commission, to establish a university clinic focused on rehabilitation and balneology, and also to build a clinic for the training of physiotherapists and nurses. "Of course, we also plan to devote ourselves to clinical research and bring further innovations in the field of rehabilitation in cooperation with speech therapists, psychologists and other experts in order to offer clients truly comprehensive care," revealed the plans of MUDr. Jakub Rybár and the team that in the coming months they also expect foreign clientele, especially from nearby Austria.

THE BEST IN SLOVAKIA

"We would like to become the best rehabilitation hospital in Slovakia, where we will have no competition, not only in terms of the level of medical care and technical equipment, but also in terms of staff," the director continued in the interview with the team, saying that the hospital is already staffed by top experienced experts. "We selected the best in the field. The collective is relatively young, so the prospect of further development is huge. These people will develop and the professional peak of our hospital is yet to come."

The new Bratislava hospital has the largest robotics department in Slovakia, and some of its devices are unique in the country. It has a total of 12 robotic devices at its disposal, which effectively help to improve the mobility of the upper and lower limbs. "We can already see the benefits of robotics for our patients after the first month of operation. We have initial experience from January and it is clear that patients, whether younger or older, who have had a stroke, are making faster progress with robotics compared to traditional physiotherapy. Of course, a full evaluation will only be possible after treating a larger number of patients," said Dr. Rybár.

"Finally, I would like to thank all the people who participated in the project and all the employees of the hospital for the great effort they put into the whole project. It is important to mention that the entire construction of the hospital would not have been possible without our main shareholder and owner. We are very happy that we have gained trust and the opportunity to participate in this unique project," concluded the director of the AGEL Bratislava Hospital MUDr. Jakub Rybár.