site.btaRegional Development Minister Shishkov Approves Detailed Site Development Plan for Building New National Children's Hospital

Caretaker Regional Development Minister Ivan Shishkov told journalists he has signed the order approving a detailed site development plan for building a new National Children's Hospital. In caretaker Health Minister Assen Medjidiev’s words, the hospital will have a hotel to accommodate parents, a commercial area and an underground parking lot. “We will try to make the hospital like the best European children’s hospitals”, Medjidiev added. The state will be participating in the project, thus closing the cycle of maternal and child healthcare projects by building children's hospitals in Sofia, Plovdiv and Burgas, he also said.

Medjidiev recalled that, at the beginning of May, an agreement with the European Investment Bank was signed, through which Bulgaria will be provided assistance in preparing an analysis of pediatric care and pediatric needs. The analysis is expected to be ready in six months at the latest, he said, voicing hope that by the end of 2023 the terms of reference will be prepared and the public tender for the hospital’s design will be drawn up. 

Blagomir Zdravkov, Executive Director of the "Prof. Ivan Mitev" Specialized Children's Hospital in Sofia, said that the new children’s hospital in Sofia is expected to have some 25 clinics, including paediatric emergency unit, children's palliative care unit, paediatric research centre, a simulation centre for training medics, a transplant centre for children, paediatric oncohaematology, cardiology, among others. Nurses, health assistants, caregivers and other specialists are to be trained, Zdravkov explained. In his words, there will be enough staff for all the structures of the hospital in the foreseeable future.