The IHDA alliance, consisting of Finnish hospital design experts, is planning a general hospital model for Ukraine with the aim of supporting the reconstruction of the hospital network throughout the country.
IHDA (Integrated Hospital Design Alliance), a group of Finnish experts in hospital design, is starting to develop a concept plan for Ukrainian hospitals. The purpose of the model plan is to accelerate the reconstruction and modernisation of the Ukrainian healthcare network throughout the country.
“The aim is to create a highly standardised general hospital design that can be adapted quickly to different needs and geographical locations in the construction of hospitals,” says Rami Kolehmainen, main designer of the project and CEO at Raami Architects.
The Ukrainian general hospitals serve areas with approximately 40,000 inhabitants, providing extensive treatment for illnesses and injuries. In addition to wards, the hospitals also have operating rooms, infectious disease units and therapeutic, orthopaedics, traumatology, anaesthesia and neurology departments.
The need for medical units is high in Ukraine, as approximately 45 per cent of the hospital infrastructure has been destroyed.
“Dozens of new hospitals are needed. Our concept is based on Nordic hospital design expertise and highly standardised high-quality solutions. When the technical requirements for patient rooms and other spaces needed in all hospitals are developed into a concept, designing and building new hospitals will be easier and faster,” says Jukka Vasara, Chairman of the IHDA Group and Deputy CEO of Granlund.
The hospital concept will be developed as a pilot project to investigate and ensure the suitability of the model plan for local needs. The project involves the design and consultancy companies belonging t the IHDA Group: Granlund and its Raami Architects, AINS Group and its ONE Architects, K2S Architects and Nordic Healthcare Group.
Key local partners include the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) and the local construction industry association, The Confederation of Builders of Ukraine (CBU).
The design of the hospital concept will be based on repeatable standard rooms and proven technical solutions, for example in terms of ventilation and electrical technology, which will improve the quality of care and the safety of the facilities. Thanks to the developed concept plan, the planning and construction time of a new hospital in Ukraine can be accelerated by as much as one year.
“The aim is to design hospital premises so that they can also be converted for different purposes. As a result of the damage to the Ukrainian service network, there may be a need for different variety or scale of patient beds and services in some areas,” says Nina Väistö, Lead architect at ONE Architects.
Experts from different fields of hospital design rely on their strong experience in designing safe, efficient and patient-centric solutions for new Finnish hospitals. The project will create the basis for Ukraine’s future healthcare system.
“We apply Nordic practices to the organisation of the service production in Ukrainian hospitals. For example, we help to utilise digitalisation and patient- and staff-oriented planning in the design of smooth care pathways and facilities that are appropriate for care work,” says Henry Pesonen, Director of Nordic Healthcare Group.
– The hospital concept to be implemented will include a rehabilitative perspective, promoting the utilization of patients' own resources as part of the healing and recovery process, as well as the efficient utilization of the hospital building. This will enhance the resilience of the healthcare system and society as a whole, says Kimmo Lintula, from K2S Architects.
The project is funded by Finnpartnership, which operates under the guidance of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. Other parties involved in the steering of the project include Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure, Ukrainian Ministry of Healthcare, the European Investment Bank and the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Jukka Vasara
Chairman, IHDA Group
Deputy CEO, Granlund
+358 50 067 5654, jukka.vasara@granlund.fi
Nina Väistö
Lead architect, hospital and healthcare design
+358 50 567 4397, nina.vaisto@onearchitects.fi