Minister of Health Kamil Šaško visited the Children's Faculty Hospital Košice (DFN KE), where he became familiar with the current state of construction related to the preparation of the magnetic resonance workplace. During the visit he took a tour of the premises of the future workplace and with hospital management discussed also the necessity of continuing and investing in the project of the superstructure, which are essential for the development of paediatric health care in eastern Slovakia.
Magnetic resonance imaging
Children's Faculty Hospital Košice thanks to the decision of the Slovak Government and support of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic from July 2025 can apply for funds from the Recovery and Resistance Plan for Purchase magnetic resonance imaging intended solely for paediatric patients. It is an investment of more than EUR 5.2 million, which represents a historic step in the development of child diagnostics in Eastern Slovakia.
During the visit, the Minister of Health also took a tour of the premises of the future MRI. –We are approaching a major milestone in the diagnosis of children's patients in Eastern Slovakia. The emergence of a magnetic resonance imaging workplace in the Children's Faculty Hospital in Košice means that children will have modern diagnostics available in an environment adapted to their needs. Examination of children by magnetic resonance imaging is more difficult than in adults. Children usually sleep during the examination, i.e. in addition to standard MR staff, additional staffing facilities for anesthesiologists and paediatricians are needed. Exactly this workplace with specific procedures, quality staff and safe environment for the child is being prepared today in Košice, said Minister of Health Kamil Šaško.
Construction work continues as planned
From the beginning of the year 2026 building modifications necessary for the installation of new magnetic resonance equipment have been implemented in the basement spaces under reception and emergency reception of the hospital. Currently, the construction works focus on the transport of technology and the construction of a modern diagnostic workplace.
The MR apparatus itself is currently in the process of public procurement. At the same time, the director of the Andrej Koman Hospital confirmed that the schedule of construction works was being followed. The Milestones and the dates of the construction are fulfilled within specified deadlines. Building a magnetic resonance system specific for children's age is extremely important for our hospital. It is important to be aware that Slovakia has such a workplace only in Bratislava, the National Institute of Children's Diseases. Our doctors indicate 800 of these examinations a year. Our own MRI will also allow us to shorten the length of hospitalization, speed up and streamline the diagnostic process, which will contribute to better quality care for children. At the same time, the establishment of an MRI for children in Košice represents a huge boost for the development of paediatric disciplines, which deal with inborn developmental errors, neurological diseases or child surgical diseases, stated.
Magnetic resonance imaging is a modern, non-invasive and highly accurate imaging method, which plays a key role in the diagnosis of children's patients' diseases. It allows quick, detailed and safe view of organs without radiation stress, at every age of the child. MRI is also crucial for the diagnosis of epilepsy, strokes, inflammatory and demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, as well as for the monitoring of chronic headaches, spinal cord changes or musculoskeletal disorders in children. The own MRI will allow to reduce the number of CT scans associated with radiation stress, reduce the length of hospitalisation and accelerate the diagnostic process.
The superstructure project - one multi-risk solution
The Minister of Health discussed the strategic project with the hospital management Overbuilding and building modifications of the building 47/1 DFN, which is a key solution for further development of the hospital and supported by the government.
Project addresses several essential health, safety and operational risks of DFN KE. It is about the need to move the Children's Clinic and adolescents from spaces containing asbestos elements, to transfer the Department of Neonatology Intensive Medicine from the 16th floor of the University Hospital L. Pasteur Košice to new premises fulfilling fire-safety and evacuation standards, as well as to deal with the long-term congestion of the Department of Children's Oncology and Hematology, whose loading rate reaches 112%.
The project will also create conditions for the creation of a complex workplace for radiology and imaging methods, Whereas the hospital as the end workplace for children's age in Eastern Slovakia does not currently have its own X-ray, CT or MR instruments. Project at an advanced stage of development.
Preparatory investments
In connection with the upcoming extension, the hospital already implemented several significant investments from the chapters of the MZ SR in 2024 and 2025.In particular, it was a project to separate engineering networks and medical gas resources, which built a new substation, a new compressor station and a new oxygen station with a reservoir. The project of wastewater treatment and disinfection, as well as investments in cybersecurity and object security, was also implemented. The preparatory investments also included project documentation for the statics and extension of the building.
The total amount of preparatory investment of approximately EUR 2.77 million was intended to ensure increased operational capacity and to create technological readiness of buildings before the actual implementation of the superstructure.
Need to cover expenditure for the first investment year
Total investment costs the superstructure project for the years 2026 2028 are estimated at EUR 39.8 million, VAT included. The construction time was set by the designer at 18 months.
This year MZ SR allocated EUR 3.105 million of expenditure, which will be intended for the implementation of the static reinforcement of structures and for the preparation of the construction site with the basic construction of the future superstructure.
–The project, together with the planned extension and modernisation, represents a strategic investment that will fundamentally change and improve health care in Eastern Slovakia. The implementation of these projects is primarily about addressing the long-term and critical problems facing the hospital. Investment in Children's Faculty Hospital in Košice is an investment in health and future of the whole region. It is our shared commitment to children and their families. I am convinced that, thanks to joint work and commitment, we will succeed in bringing this ambitious but extremely important project to an end, concluded by Minister of Health Kamil Šaško.
The implementation of the projects will significantly strengthen the Children's Faculty Hospital Košice as the final workplace for paediatric healthcare in Eastern Slovakia, and its functioning is closely linked to the main hospitals in the network of the University Hospital L. Pasteur Košice and the Faculty Hospital AGEL Košice-Šaca.
