The Second Birth of the Regional Infectious Diseases Hospital: Large-Scale Reconstruction Underway in Vitebsk

The Vitebsk Regional Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital is undergoing a renaissance. Our correspondents learned from "VV" what has been done by the builders, hidden from our eyes, but already representing significant steps in the renovation, reconstruction, and capital repair of one of the oldest healthcare institutions in the region.

The joyous event of the completion of reconstruction and repair is yet to come, but already significant transformations are visible from Frunze Avenue: the builders have finished masonry at the third-floor level of the new insert building, which will connect existing buildings No. 1 and No. 2, and have reached the technical floor. The perimeter fence of the hospital grounds has been completely replaced. A checkpoint with a disinfection barrier has been built – thanks to it, ambulances arriving in the "dirty" zone will be treated with special disinfectants upon leaving for the city. What has been done by the builders, hidden from our eyes, but already representing significant steps in the renovation, reconstruction, and capital repair of one of the oldest healthcare institutions in the region?

– In addition to the insert building, the project documentation provides for the reconstruction of building No. 2, where window and door openings, engineering networks will be replaced, and foundation waterproofing will be performed. Plans include the construction of a modern oxygen gasification station, which will supply oxygen to the wards, – Mikhail Kazurov, head of the capital construction department of the regional executive committee, told a "VV" correspondent. – In the administrative building, the roof and ceilings will be reinforced, new windows and doors will be installed, and a modern pharmacy with a security alarm system and an assembly hall will appear. All elevators in the complex of buildings will be replaced, and medical equipment is being procured. A transformer substation has already been erected, and all engineering networks on the hospital grounds have been laid. With favorable weather conditions, work on the parking lot on the Krasnoflotskaya Street side will resume. It will be available not only to visitors of the infectious diseases hospital but also to the Emergency Hospital located nearby.

Every week, more people are added to the construction site of the newly built корпус. Time is not being wasted. As soon as a section of the heating system was laid, reclaiming several rooms from the frost, specialists arrived to carry out interior finishing work. Last week, 148 people worked at the facility.

The facility is fully financed from the republican and regional budgets and through credit funds from the Development Bank. The customer is the Capital Construction Department of the Regional Executive Committee, the general contractor is the State Enterprise "Vitebsk Construction Administration", and the general designer is the Unitary Enterprise "Vitebskzhilproekt".

Correspondents of "VV" visited the construction site of the new infectious diseases hospital building on one of the frosty January days. The site manager of SMP-169, Oleg Shcherbakov, guided us around the facility where specialists from this organization were working. It is still difficult to believe that the building will soon turn into a true palace of health, but the work is indeed proceeding non-stop: while the team of bricklayers was working on the top, technical floor of the building under construction, decorators were already working downstairs, tiling walls and laying floor screed.

The infectious disease hospital is not the only socially significant healthcare facility that will receive attention in the near future. As reported by the main department for healthcare of the regional executive committee, the construction of the operating and resuscitation unit of the regional clinical hospital is also underway and progressing actively. Among important social facilities is a polyclinic in microdistrict No. 4 of the Aeroport residential area in Polotsk. Its construction is envisaged by the Comprehensive Plan for Regional Development until 2025. Efforts continue to improve healthcare facilities in rural areas, centralise emergency medical services, and equip medical institutions. For 2024, the region plans to install expensive equipment, which will also enhance the provision of high-level medical care: this includes 4 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners and 4 computed tomography (CT) scanners, 8 X-ray machines, 2 angiographs, enabling faster and higher quality care for patients with cerebrovascular disorders and acute coronary syndrome, endoscopic equipment, and mammography units for the screening of the female population.

All these measures are aimed at ensuring that inter-district centres and regional institutions provide medical care at an even higher quality level.

Source: vitebsk-region.gov.by