Representatives of the Prague City Hall would like a hospice center in Veleslavín Castle
Prague – Representatives of the Prague City Hall today discussed the use of Veleslavín Castle, where there could be a hospice center. This would build on the original use of the building, in which a neurological sanatorium previously operated. Now, according to city officials, the buildings are empty and dilapidated. The metropolis wants the area into its ownership and is currently negotiating with the state to which the castle now belongs. Vít Hofman, a spokesman for the municipality, announced this to ČTK today in a press release.
“I am looking for the establishment of a hospice that would connect the community with the care of patients in the terminal stage of life-limiting disease and at the same time be a top educational center as a necessary step to provide not only quality care of this type, but also as a necessity to ensure care capacities , “ said Prague Councilor for Social Policy and Healthcare Milena Johnová (Prague to Herself).
According to the spokesperson, the idea to build a hospice in Veleslavín arose from the Kosák brothers, who, according to the spokesman, are descendants of the original owners of the chateau. In addition to the hospice, a café, a cultural center and a basic art school could be established in the chateau according to Prague’s plans.
According to Jan Chabr, Councilor for Property (TOP 09), Prague has been trying to acquire Veleslavín Castle since 2018. In exchange for an unused monument, the city has now offered the state Faust’s house on Charles Square and land near Na Homolce Hospital, ie real estate that now serves state-established organizations.
Prague is currently working on the development of so-called palliative care, ie care provided to patients suffering from an incurable disease in an advanced or terminal stadium. The capacity of palliative care providers is part of a long-term concept approved by the city management at the end of 2019. Due to the insufficient capacity of the existing two Prague patients, today Praguers requiring palliative care are often sent to inpatient hospices in Čerčany or Litoměřice. Many do not receive palliative care and people die on acute beds in hospitals in Prague. Representatives of the city have so far, among other things, established the creation of a special field trip focused on seriously ill patients who require palliative care. It has been set up by the Prague Ambulance Service since the autumn.
Palliative care provides services to people who suffer from an incurable or chronic illness in an advanced or terminal stadium. Its goal is to alleviate the patient’s physical and mental suffering, maintain dignity and provide support to his family and loved ones. These services are already provided in the capital by various non-profit organizations, including in the form of mobile hospices, which, with the help of teams of health professionals, provide to sick people at home.
Veleslavín Castle in Prague 6 with a historical park, which covers three hectares, dates from about 1725. It was built according to the plans of Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer for Empress Amália Brunšvická. In the first half of the 20th century, the chateau served as a neurological sanatorium, founded by Leo Kosák and one of the discoverers of Alzheimer’s disease, Oskar Fischer. For example, Charlotte Garrigue Masaryková or Milena Jesenská were treated here. After the communist coup, the complex was nationalized. After the revolution, they had an object in a new variety of institutions. It now falls under the Office for Representation of the State in Property Matters, which the complex received from the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in 2015. Recently, the castle and adjacent buildings are falling into disrepair and the complex with a forest park is closed to the public. The complex was last reconstructed in 1986.