The new headquarters of the Prague Medical Rescue Service will be in Prague 9
Prague wants to announce the competition after the city councilors discuss the plan on Monday. The intention to build a new EMS building is based on the council’s program statement. “The construction of the new headquarters of the Prague ambulance is one of the strategic investments of Prague, which the capital owes to the Prague rescuers for years,” said Councilor Milena Johnová (Prague Sobě).
The construction of the EMS headquarters has been going on for several decades. Earlier, it was considered to build it, for example, in a building under construction in Palmovka, where the new town hall of Prague 8 was to be located. Rescuers are now using the premises in Korunní Street, among others, and according to Johnová, this building is unsatisfactory, perhaps because it shares the city police in the building and the building does not meet capacity requirements. According to the director of the emergency medical service, Petr Kolouch, the layout of the building is unsuitable and it also does not correspond to the further development of the rescue service.
Now the municipality has agreed with Prague 9 that a building for emergency medical services will be built next to the Prosek Polyclinic in Střížkov. The lands belonging to the capital were entrusted to Prague 9. Therefore, their transfer to the administration back to Prague is currently being addressed.
According to John, the winner of the architectural competition should be known in the summer of 2022. He will be selected by a jury of architects and city representatives. According to the planned schedule, it could start in 2025, it could be done two years later. According to Johnová, the estimated value of the design competition is 6.5 million crowns with VAT. In total, Prague should pay an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 billion crowns for the new headquarters of the emergency medical service.
The control room, the training center for, among other things, the training of rescue workers and the administrative facilities of the emergency medical service should be moved to the new building, added its director Petr Kolouch. The workplaces of Prague rescuers are now located in various parts of the city. Part of the emergency medical services will be moved to the Prosek Polyclinic until a new building is built in Střížkov. According to its mayor Tomáš Portlík (ODS), Prague 9 is preparing an extension of its medical facility. According to Johnová, the emergency services should find temporary facilities in this extension from 2023.
Next year, the Prague Rescue Service will celebrate 165 years since its founding. It currently has more than 20 exit bases and is gradually building more. The building in Korunní Street has housed an emergency medical service since 1999. The organization’s annual budget is about half a billion crowns.