Funding from the European Regional Development Fund will be used for the project that "involves the construction of a 15,000-m2 facility and the purchase of research and medical equipment, in order to transform the hospital into a clinical research centre where new medicines can be developed and used," says a press release on the EU website.
Once completed in February 2022, the hospital will focus on treating common and chronic diseases in children and adolescents.
The Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, was quoted as saying that "the EU Cohesion Policy is about improving peoples' lives, and in this case, about saving lives."
"Thanks to this project, children in Croatia will benefit from the latest medical research and Croatian researchers will enjoy world-class facilities near Zagreb to conduct their work," the commissioner said.
The aim of the project is also to retain talented medical researchers and practitioners in Croatia, with an expected increase in hospital staff by 67%. The centre's work will cover medical fields such as asthma, allergies, rheumatology, cardiology, paediatric surgery, sports medicine, rehabilitation and clinical trials. Finally, the new facility will have an eco-friendly design, with reduced waste and water consumption, the European Commission stated.
Centre of Competence for Translational Medicine to be built at Srebrnjak Hospital
In mid-July, the Croatian authorities stated that a HRK 432 million Centre of Competence for Translational Medicine (CCTM) would be built at the Srebrnjak Children's Hospital. The implementation of the CCTM project will take 32 months, and includes the construction and equipment of a new ward building.
The overall costs are estimated at HRK 432 million (€58 million), and the EU funds cover 85% of that amount (approximately €48 million) while the rest will come from the state budget.
The contract on funding this project under the 2014-2020 Competitiveness and Cohesion Programme was signed in Government House on 12 July by Education and Science Minister Blazenka Divjak, the hospital's director, Boro Nogalo, and Central Finance and Contracting Agency head Tomislav Petric.