Health Minister: Lack of a new University Hospital advantage for Penta

The non-existence of a new university hospital in Bratislava could be "partly an advantage" for the Penta financial group, which is planning to construct its own hospital in the Bory area of Bratislava, said Health Minister Tomáš Drucker (a Smer-SD nominee) on Monday. "They will strive to acquire quality medical personnel by offering good remuneration and working conditions," he said. Penta wants to launch construction work on the hospital in 2018, and the facility should be opened in the first half of 2021. Meanwhile, the state is planning a new university hospital in Bratislava for 2020. Nonetheless, Drucker said that he doesn't know which hospital will be built first. The Cabinet agreed to scrap a private-public-partnership project for constructing a new university hospital in the Patronka area, commissioning Drucker with the task of presenting a new solution by the end of March 2017. The Health Ministry is currently considering two localities in Bratislava for a hospital - Razsochy and Ružinov.