Aschaffenburg/Stuttgart, Germany, November 27, 2024. Eleven operating theaters, modern wards, a parent-and-child center, a new cardiac catheterization laboratory and much more: with extensive investments the non-profit company Klinikum Aschaffenburg-Alzenau gGmbH will make its hospital fit for the future challenges in the healthcare sector. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new surgical center took place yesterday, on Monday, and was attended by Bavaria’s Minister-President Dr. Markus Söder and Judith Gerlach, State Minister of Health, Care and Prevention. In addition to Söder and Gerlach, Dr. Alexander Leger (Administrator of the District of Aschaffenburg), Jürgen Herzing (Lord Mayor of the City of Aschaffenburg and Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of Klinikum Aschaffenburg), Sebastian Lehotzki (Managing Director of Klinikum Aschaffenburg), Dr. med. Sebastian Rogenhofer (Medical Director) and Hermann Kunkel (Head of the Construction and Technology Department) appreciated this important step for the future of the hospital. Since 2018, Drees & Sommer SE, a consulting company that specializes in construction and real estate, has been providing planning and realization services on several projects to Klinikum Aschaffenburg. “The objective is to create the ideal environment for patients and staff,“ explains Jürgen Zimmermann, Associate Partner at Drees & Sommer.
Patients should be looked after without having to walk long distances or wait long, and doctors and nursing staff need an efficient work environment. These targets are – and have always been – at the core of drafting and planning. Sebastian Lehotzki, Managing Director of Klinikum Aschaffenburg, praised the start of construction as an “outstanding milestone for the future of Klinikum Aschaffenburg”.
Drees & Sommer expert Jürgen Zimmermann said: “The project serves as a model. A hospital should always plan around its users – that is, the patients and hospital staff. This means that, as a special-purpose property, the hospital has to be customized for the clients so that they can carry out their core business in it to the optimum level.“ According to him, this involves very precise knowledge of the internal processes and of the requirements in terms of medical instruments or equipment.
Fit for the Challenges of the Future
With around 2,500 employees and 731 beds, Klinikum Aschaffenburg is one of the biggest hospitals in northern Bavaria. Klinikum Aschaffenburg-Alzenau GmbH, the non-profit company behind the hospital, is planning extensive investments to prepare the hospital for the future challenges facing the health care sector. The overall construction project should be completed by 2030; the new surgical center, however, is expected to be operating in 2028.
The new surgical center will bring the most advanced medical technology to Aschaffenburg. Finbar Cuny, Senior Project Manager at Drees & Sommer, points out: “The new surgical center will showcase state-of-the-art medical technology. It will have a hybrid operating theater equipped with an angiography machine, in addition to a larger operating theater which will later include a DaVinci robotic-assisted surgical system. Robotic-assisted surgical systems enable surgeons to perform minimally invasive operations. For the patients this means less pain, less likelihood of surgical wound infections, and shorter hospital stays. A modern medical device reprocessing unit will also be part of the new surgical center.”
To increase the hospital’s attractiveness as an employer and thus improve employee satisfaction in times of skills shortages, a high value was placed on the design of the working environment in the new surgical center. The operating theaters, for example, are designed to maximize daylight and give views of nature. Innovative approaches to digital imaging technology are also used in the construction of the new buildings, which will enable the hospital staff to concentrate on their primary task of patient care.
Patient Wellbeing at the Center
The new surgical center complex will have two wards with 40 beds each. The total of 80 beds does not mean an overall increase in the hospital’s bed numbers, but some of those in the existing wards will be relocated to the new building. This will enable the remaining beds in the existing building to be spaced out, resulting in an increase in the number of single-bed rooms. On the one hand, this will improve patient wellbeing and, on the other hand, it will also meet the higher standards of hygiene required, inter alia, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will allow patients to be isolated in single-bed rooms, if necessary.
The design of the new building puts patients and their needs at the center. “The wellbeing of patients in the new wards will be improved by the coordinated, state-of-the art interior design, as well as the prominent position of the new complex. Most of the rooms will have an unobstructed view of the surrounding natural landscape,” explains Klinikum Aschaffenburg Managing Director Sebastian Lehotzki. In his view, a ‘healing environments’ created in this way improves patients’ feeling of wellbeing and security, helping to avoid depression and thus resulting in faster convalescence.
The planned new construction of a parent-and-child center as part of the hospital is a flagship project for the region and has political approval and support from all sides. The new building will cater for the steady increase in the number of births in the hospital and give prospective parents direct access to all kinds of examinations and care. This is underpinned by the integration of an out-of-hours primary care practice into the new building. To improve the carbon footprint and efficiency, photovoltaic systems to supply power are being installed in all the new buildings.
Mission Future: Fundraising Campaign Helps to Finance Construction
However, raising the funds for the construction work is also a huge financial feat. The cost of the surgical center alone is around 96 million euros, of which the federal state of Bavaria is contributing a fixed amount of approximately 77.8 million euros. Drees & Sommer is in charge of the overall coordination of all the plans with the State Ministry of Health, Care and Prevention in Munich and the Government of Lower Franconia in Würzburg. ”Here is a lot of trust involved in the full exchange of information,” says Drees & Sommer Senior Project Manager Finbar Cuny.
To fund the finishing touches, Klinikum Aschaffenburg has launched a fundraising campaign entitled Mission Future. As the name suggests, the sustainability of Klinikum Aschaffenburg is at the heart of the plans for all the new building work. One of the additional elements added with the help of the donations was a special lighting system, which improves patient wellbeing and creates a healing environment.
The aim of the fundraising campaign is to raise around 5 million euros. The hospital is relying on community action to achieve this: citizens and local companies, institutions and associations. A number of celebrities from the region are acting as ambassadors for Mission Future and are approaching additional enterprises, private people, charities and trusts to encourage them to make a donation. The Managing Director of the Hospital, Sebastian Lehotzki, commented: We are already expecting several large donations as well as smaller ones. The commitment shown by individuals and companies demonstrates how important and relevant our project is for the region.“