ZAGREB, July 25 (Hina) - Health Minister Vili Beros on Saturday visited the children's hospital in downtown Zagreb which was flooded in last night's heavy rain, saying the costs of dealing with the damage would be covered by the hospital, the city, and his ministry.
Hospital director Goran Roic told Hina the biggest damage was done to the pharmacy in the basement, where the cafeteria, locker room and radiology ward were also flooded.
Other hospital services are working normally, he said.
Visiting the hospital, Minister Beros said the hospital pharmacy stored very expensive drugs so the damage was yet to be estimated.
"However, the provision of healthcare is not undermined at this moment. But the corona crisis, the earthquake, and now flooding have only highlighted the need to build a new national children's hospital. Many only talked about it, but this government has recognized this need and included this idea into its programme for the coming period, and I as minister will do my best so that it is realised."
A feasibility study is being done for the Blato location and when it is done, we will see whether it's the best location, Beros said.
As for the financing of the new hospital, he said everything would be done to find the fastest solution. "Whether it's EU funds is difficult to say because the procedure is long, and we can now see how long the feasibility study is taking," Beros said, adding that "we are also looking at other financing possibilities for the construction of these health facilities that we urgently need."
Beros said he had talked with the directors of most of Zagreb's hospitals and that none had reported any major damage after last night's storm.
