About Hospital

Middle-Ages

Hospitals in the Middle Ages were charitable institutions, usually founded from bequests of individuals, and attached to ecclesiastical institutions. They fulfilled the function not only of hospitals, but also of sick and old people's asylums, sometimes even leprosaria, as will be shown below. Jihlava had two hospitals soon after its foundation in the middle of the 13th century. One of them was dedicated to St. Elizabeth, the other to St. George.

The first of them, named after St. Elizabeth, stood outside the walls, on the northern side of the town, probably on the left end of today's Komenský Street. This could be confirmed by the discovery of a medieval mass grave after one of the numerous medieval epidemics on the site of the Culture House. It was certainly an old miners' hospital, which is confirmed in a document dated 2nd November 1258, when the Czech mintmasters Eberhard, Dětmar Freiberg, Jindřich Pták (Avis), Jindřich Krucenburgensis from Fulda, together with the Jihlava oath-keepers, handed it over to the abbot Marsilius of Želiv and the parish priest Štěpán of Jihlava. The hospital gave its name to the nearby gate, which opened onto one of the main streets of Jihlava and later to the whole suburb. However, the hospital, unprotected by the walls, was given up to all enemies and besiegers of the city. It was almost destroyed several times. The earliest record of its reconstruction dates back to 1293.

Since the 13th century, the running of St. Elizabeth's Hospital was ensured by the hospital foundation, which consisted of an almshouse, 2 other yards, a sheepfold in the Špitálské suburb (on the site of today's Technical Services), fields and 4 ponds. In addition, it was to receive 10 buckets of rye and wheat each year from the mill under Jánský vrch. Further profits were made by donations and bequests from the townspeople of Jihlava. In 1369, for example, the Jihlava burgher Hegulin Wegebank donated his house in the Špitálské suburb to the hospital, to which he added a mill on the Jihlava River. In 1399, the hospital was even given the village Bradlo, which then became part of the hospital foundation for the next 60 years. The oldest known administrator of the hospital is Master Kunz, mentioned in 1362. The hospital is also mentioned in the charter of Pope Boniface IX of 3rd February 1400, which grants the Jihlava family the right to establish several benefices in the hospital church of St. Elizabeth, including patronage rights. However, the hospital on this site soon disappeared. Unprotected by walls, it was destroyed during a Hussite raid, probably in 1423 during the September siege of Jihlava by Jan Žižka. Evidence of this can be found in the fact that in spring 1425 a temporary municipal hospital appeared right in the town, in the abandoned Jewish school on the northeast corner of today's Židovská and Mrštíková Street. However, a year later, in 1426, the town council moved the hospital to Havířská Street to house III/25 (it stood approximately on the site of today's No. 8). Here it remained until at least 1449, although by a charter of the 24th of April 1427 the hospital received from the Moravian Margrave Albrecht the aforementioned Jewish school for its needs. The inadequate provisionality and the need for a new municipal hospital can be proved by the fact that Margrave Albrecht gave permission for its construction, including the hospital chapel of St. Elisabeth, by another charter of the 16th of June 1434. The new facility was to be built by rebuilding the former Jewish synagogue (it stood in Židovská Street next to the aforementioned school), but the turmoil of the times and especially the dismal state of the town's finances delayed the construction. It was probably the fine of 20,000 groschen paid by the town for the resistance against King George of Poděbrady in 1458 that forced the town council to sell the aforementioned village of Bradlo including its accessories to Ondráček of Kostelce a year later (5 March).

Therefore, the new hospital and the chapel of St. Elizabeth were built after 1470, but in a different place. It was built by rebuilding the large patrician house of Ondřej Šlégl in Špitálská Street IV/65 (today's Komenský House No. 27-29). The right, northern part of the house was a chapel, the left part was the hospital itself. If in the 15th century the hospital was poor, however, its financial situation changed fundamentally during the 16th century. At that time, during the Reformation, the management of the two hospitals in Jihlava was entirely in the hands of the town council. The St. Elisabeth Hospital burned down in 1513, 1523 and 1551, but the salaries from the hospital property and donations quickly made up for the losses. Only for prayers for the drowned souls the hospital received 1 kopeck of groschen a year from the municipal money. In addition, the hospital also received various material benefits, such as carp at Christmas or regular doses of beer. There was so much of it that the hospital workers could not consume it themselves, so they even brewed it in the hospital. The hospital foundation was also significantly strengthened by a decision of the town council made in the presence of the Moravian subcommander Přemek Prusínovský of Víckov on 6th May 1560 in a dispute over the weaver's frames, according to which the weavers using the new frames had to pay 1 kopeck of groschen per year to the hospital administrators.

However, at the end of the century, the situation worsened again and in 1600 the town council rented the hospital for 10 years. After the Battle at White Mountain, Jihlava found itself in a very difficult economic situation. As early as 1622 the town gave up the administration of the hospital, which then came under the patronage of the abbot of the Želiv monastery. In 1630, at the time of the total economic collapse of Jihlava, the town owed the hospital 18,000 kopeks. The hospital then existed on this site until its closure in 1826-27 in connection with the new arrangement of the poorhouse, even though the chapel had already been closed in 1791 and then until 1825 the area was used as a theatre.

The second hospital was named after St. George. It was located relatively further away from the city walls, under the corner of today's Havlíčkova and Třebízského Street, approximately at the location of the Rozkvět. Its location indicated its mission: all terminally ill people, including those infected with leprosy, were placed here. In 1412 there is a record of the amount to be paid to the hospital by the shoemaker Havel. At that time the hospital is referred to as "leprosis ad St. Georgium". Also in a record from 1413 it is mentioned as "domus leprosarum ad St. Georgium". As the name implies, the St. George's Hospital served the town mainly during the numerous plague epidemics.

This hospital - leprosarium was also seriously damaged several times in the course of its history. It can be assumed that it was already damaged during the Hussite era, but it is known that it was destroyed during the double siege of Jihlava by George of Poděbrady in 1458 (when Old Jihlava near the Jánský Hill was destroyed) and in 1471 (when the church of St. John the Baptist was destroyed). In the 16th century, the economic situation at St. George's Hospital also improved. However, on 19 September 1612 it was burnt down. In a short time it was rebuilt at the expense of the town, but in 1622 the patronage rights passed to the Abbot of Želiv. At the very end of the 30 Years' War, during the Swedish occupation of the town in 1645-47, the hospital was badly damaged in the last-mentioned year, when the Swedes destroyed all the suburbs of Jihlava with proverbial perfection. This is evidenced by the fact that in 1671 the hospital was rebuilt almost entirely with the money of the townsman Pavel Waczillo, including the chapel of St. George, which then became public. St. George's Hospital then served mainly the poor inhabitants of Jihlava under the name "Siechhof" (sick-house) for the whole following century. It was closed down in 1769, including St. George's Chapel.

18th century

From the beginning of the 18th century, an independent shelter for the sick - an infirmary - appeared in Jihlava. Infirmaries of that time were a kind of intermediate stage between medieval hospitals and modern hospitals and had the character of a detention station for patients with the risk of spreading disease. Therefore, infirmaries were also built far outside the walls. In Jihlava, the first infirmary was built in 1704-7 above the mill at the Long Wall (on the site of today's piano factory). However, it was a small infirmary house serving mainly as a kind of quarantine station for the sick who were in danger of bringing some infectious disease into the town. However, the actual infirmary was built in 1753 not far from here, near the now non-existent Koňský Pond, on the site of houses Nos. 21 and 23 in Křižíkova Street, then Brtnické suburb No. 117. It was founded from the bequest of the rich Jihlava dyer Pavel Koch, who left the sum of 1700 gold coins in 1743 for the construction of a hospital for the poor - an infirmary. Other considerable funds were provided by another Jihlava resident, the wealthy master Jan Jiří (Johann Georg) Grassl. The newly established institution is already named in contemporary sources as "Hospital at St. Lazarus" (Krankenhaus). The administration of the infirmary was entrusted to a curatorium, and medical treatment was provided by the town physician. The operation of the infirmary was originally paid for from municipal funds, but in 1774 a special foundation was established with a sum of 475 gold coins.

When Jihlava received its first battalion of permanent military garrison in 1751, it turned into a garrison town. At that time the need to build a hospital for the army arose in Jihlava. Thus, in the years 1753-4, a military infirmary was built in today's Věžní Street in the now non-existent new building No. 402 above the moat (it stood opposite today's market hall). As the whole building was too small for the military needs, a new military hospital was built in 1785-1786 by order of Emperor Joseph II. The building was constructed on a large plot of land in today's Tolstého Street by the governor Max of Močice (today a school of the Ministry of the Interior). This freed up the military infirmary in Věžní Street, the building of which was donated to the town by Emperor Joseph II. This was a great benefit for the town, because the existing municipal infirmary-hospital in Křižíkova Street, although a progressive facility in its time, was no longer suitable for the needs of the time by the end of the century. Therefore, the town decided to turn the donated building into its own hospital. However, it took almost 20 years for the army to vacate the building in Věžní. In the meantime, a so-called hospital fund was set up for the necessary adaptation of the building, which was largely dependent on voluntary contributions. However, the money gathered very slowly. It was not until a donation of 7,998 guldens from the wealthy merchant Johanna Erbstein that the hospital was able to raise enough money to pay for the hospital. In 1801, the reconstruction began.

19th century

On 19 December 1802 the new hospital was finally opened with a ceremonial speech by the parish priest Milo Grün. In the following weeks, all the patients from the old infirmary, which had cost 972 guldens, were moved here. The hospital was sold. This sum then became the basis for the new hospital fund. The new facility in Věžní Street became the first real municipal hospital. The new institution, the full name of which was "Bürgerspital zu Skt. Lazar", was under the direct supervision of the city magistrate, the regional authority and the provincial governorate. The finances were managed by the administrator, and the medical care was provided by two municipal doctors and two nurses. Operating costs (heating, light, etc.) were covered by the municipal budget. In the following years, some internal improvements were made, in particular an increase in bed capacity. If in 1827 there were 40 beds, in 1840 there were already 53. But the need continued to grow. This was already strongly manifested in 1831 during the cholera epidemic, when 753 people died in Jihlava only. However, further expansion of the hospital was impossible because the building was limited by the old wall system. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

By the 1830s, it was clear that the only solution to the poor state of affairs was to build a new, modern hospital. The obstacle was again the lack of finance. The situation changed only after the sale of the then seat of the regional office in 1839 (today's house at 41 Masarykovo nám., the regional office moved shortly before to one of the so-called Dietrichstein houses on the north side of the square on the site of today's post office and savings bank). The sum of 11250 gold was raised. Together with the bequest of Pavel Ankner in the amount of 3150 gold it became a sufficient base for the implementation of the town's plans. The question of the location of the new hospital was solved by the generous donation of the then owner of the Plandry estate, Václav Dobřenský, who gave the town 5 meters of the field next to the military hospital. On 15 August 1849 the foundation stone was laid, when the first groundwork had already begun on 23 October the previous year. Construction proceeded rapidly, and already on 26 November 1850 the new facility was gloriously consecrated by the parish priest J. Möschl from St. James. The town council paid 33,188 gold, 22 and 1/4 kr. for the construction. In 1856 the hospital was given the status of "general". The 19th-century primates were: dr. Franz Julius Grüner (l850-69), dr. Julius Grüner (1869-1887), dr. Julius Pollatschek (l887-l898) and from 1 July 1898 Dr. Anton Nietsch. The building of the old hospital in Věžní Street was gradually evicted and returned to the hands of the army. In the following decades, the house served as a dormitory for the army and survived under the name "Transporthaus" until 1927, when it was demolished.

By building a new hospital, Jihlava gained an institute that no longer had a charitable mission. It provided facilities for the treatment of diseases that require care and hospitalization. The concept of the hospital was very progressive for that time and its design has not changed significantly until today. The internal layout has undergone several adaptations over the 140 years of the building's existence. Administratively, the hospital was run by a manager and the inpatient fund was managed by an administrator. The head of the institute was the chief physician, who was also the director of the hospital. He diagnosed, ordered and eventually controlled the treatment. He was the hospital's representative in its dealings with the authorities.

The first head of the hospital was Dr. Franz Julius Grüner, who had previously headed St. Lazarus Hospital. The first administrator was Anton Polzer. In 1869, after the retirement of Dr. F. J. Grüner, his son Dr. Julius Grüner became the head of the hospital and took care of the establishment of a temporary Infectious Disease Pavilion in the hospital garden in 1877. The capacity of the hospital increased to 118 beds. In 1879, gas lighting was introduced into the hospital and in 1887 it was connected to the municipal water supply, which significantly improved its sanitary conditions. Bathrooms and flushing toilets could be installed and a temporary laundry was built in the garden.

Dr. Julius Pollatschek was appointed the next head and director of the hospital in 1887. As a supporter of radical surgical methods, he pushed forward the employment of surgeon Dr. Viktor Klotz, who introduced a number of new operations in Jihlava. His traditions were continued by Dr. Anton Nietsch, so in the following years the number of surgeries increased sharply and the problem of lack of beds arose again. Plans were drawn up for the construction of an autopsy room, a morgue and a new infectious diseases pavilion. Above all, however, the surgical pavilion had to be addressed. Its construction began in 1899 and it was put into operation in 1902. The building was used for the surgical department until 1928, after which it housed the ophthalmology and radiology departments and an institutional library. It was heated by the central heating system and the central wing served as an surgery ward with two surgery rooms, a preparation room, an instrument room, a waiting room and a sterilization room. The autopsy ward, the infectious disease pavilion and the laundry, equipped with a washing machine and a spinning machine, were similarly modern. The number of beds increased to 140 and as a result the old kitchen was inadequate and had to be extended. A very important improvement in the overall situation of the hospital was its connection to the electricity grid in 1905. This was of particular importance for the operating theatres and a new X-ray machine was connected. As a result of the increased bed capacity, the post of assistant physician had to be systematised. At that time, the hospital was increasingly sought after by patients with eye diseases, so the city council decided to appoint MUDr. Maxmilián Bondi, former assistant of the eye clinic in Vienna, as the attending ophthalmologist at the general hospital. However, Dr. Bondi could not perform eye operations until a small eye department was established for him in September 1904. This consisted of 2 rooms with 18 beds.

20th century

In 1906, a contract was concluded between the hospital and the Superior of the Nuns of the Third Order of St. Francis in Brno, according to which the nuns of this order took over the care of the sick in the hospital in Jihlava, where 16 of them started to work as caregivers and 3 nurses for kitchen and laundry services. The development of the hospital was interrupted by World War I, when all modifications to the hospital were banned.

From 1850 to 1918, the number of patients increased by about 200 %, while the number of beds increased by only about 50 %. This can be explained by the fact that the number of admissions rose year by year as patients' confidence in the treatment at the hospital grew. At the same time, the number of deaths in hospital was falling, thanks to improvements in treatment methods. If we look at the age composition of the patients, we find that children of infancy, i.e. those with the highest mortality rates, were hardly admitted at all. Children under the age of 10 were also admitted relatively rarely. Most patients were admitted between the ages of 20-40, the period when the largest number of the population was affected by pulmonary tuberculosis. The percentage of mortality was adversely affected by the elderly, who often found their last refuge in the hospital. The social composition of the patients was a reflection of the economic conditions in the city. It shows that the wealthy rarely sought treatment in the hospital, even though special rooms, the so-called 'classes', were reserved for them. The hospital was most sought after by the poorest segments of the population, of whom the manual workers and the unemployed accounted for almost 50 % of all admissions.

The establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic on 28 October 1918 was an expression of the aspirations of all the Czech and Slovak people. The development of the health of the nation reflected the economic and social conditions. The general progress of medicine led to a reduction in the incidence of some diseases and mortality, but these results did not correspond to the potential and needs of the people. The hospitals that provided care for the bedridden were at the highest level.

The end of the war did not mean the end of national problems. In Jihlava, too, the struggle for leadership in the city affected the Hospital. Only with the retirement of MUDr. Nietsch in 1923 did the situation calm down. A turning point in the development of the hospital came in 1924, when MUDr. Vítězslav Horn, an assistant at the 1st Surgical Clinic in Brno, was appointed the head of the surgical department and the director of the hospital. He was a young and surgically very skilled doctor with great organizational abilities. Soon after his arrival, he realised a number of shortcomings of the hospital and, as its director, drew up a plan for its transformation into an institute that would meet the requirements of modern medicine.

This plan elaborated on the three most important tasks:
1) Improvement of the patient care
2) Expansion of the hospital's bed capacity
3) Upgrade of the outdated hospital equipment.

MUDr. Horn began to implement the plan by establishing two separate departments: the Internal Medicine Department and the Dermatology Department. The number of secondary physicians and nursing staff was further expanded. MUDr. Horn made the construction of a new surgical pavilion his primary goal. The building of the internal ward was adapted in 1926 and on 1 July 1928 the surgical pavilion, with 150 beds, was opened, which meant a considerable improvement in the medical situation in the district. The six-storey building with two entrances, which originally served exclusively the surgical department with a gynaecological and obstetric subdivision, was ahead of its time in its modern conception. The original surgical pavilion was made available to the eye department. On the ground floor, two rooms were reserved for patients of the internal medicine department, and a chapel was set up on the first floor for the nursing order.

The 1930s

The development of the hospital moved forward significantly with the construction of the surgical pavilion. However, the shortage of beds began to manifest in other fields. Two houses handed over by the military administration were adapted for the infectious diseases ward, and work began on the prosectorate. In 1935, the number of beds in the hospital was increased to 470. Out of this, the surgery department had 165 beds, the internal medicine department with its infectious department also had 165 beds, the dermatology department and the opthalmology had 70 beds each. Adaptation work on the administration building was also started and the construction of an outbuilding with a central boiler room, kitchen and laundry was discussed.

The construction started in 1937. In the same year a separate department of ear, throat and nose diseases (ENT) was established. The new department was temporarily located in the basement of the eye pavilion, and the reconstruction of one of the former military barracks in which the department was located began immediately that same year.

The management of the institute at that time also realized that the increasing demands on the number and quality of X-ray examinations meant an increased strain on the equipment of the X-ray department, which was unable to meet these demands with its equipment and personnel. It was therefore decided to reconstruct the X-ray facility and purchase a new X-ray machine. Further development of the Jihlava hospital was interrupted by political events in 1938. Immediately after the establishment of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, the Germans in Jihlava seized the opportunity to regain power in the town. The city council was dissolved and power was concentrated in the hands of a government commissioner. Even the hospital did not escape the Nazi control. As early as 18 July, MUDr. Vítězslav Horn was suspended from his position as director of the hospital and head of the surgical department, and on 1 September 1938 he was arrested and interned in a concentration camp until the end of World War II. In an attempt to Germanise the hospital, the government commissioner Dr Engelmann appointed MUDr Hansmann as director on a temporary basis. On 8 September 1938, a Sudeten German, MUDr. Hettfleisch, an SdP functionary whose professional erudition fell far short of that of his predecessors, became director and head of the surgical department. In other departments, too, the Czech heads were replaced by German ones. It must be admitted that the economic development of the hospital did not stop.

The 1940s

In 1942, the construction of an outbuilding designed by the prominent Czech architect Zdeněk Rozehnal was completed, and its modern equipment made it significantly better and cheaper to operate. It was possible to set up a diet kitchen, a laundry with large washing machines and wringers. There was also a boiler room, which meant a reduction in heating costs. In addition, the conversion of the original infectious disease pavilion into an ENT ward was completed. This 1900 pavilion was extended and raised by one floor. Its capacity was 40 beds and it was equipped with an surgery room, an ambulance and a waiting room. In October 1941, the villa together with the printing house and the garden of the entrepreneur R. Pokorný were purchased and later adapted for the children's ward. In 1942, two other buildings from the First World War were adapted for the internal ward. The number of beds was increased to 550.

In 1943, the previously planned adaptation of the X-ray department was carried out and a building for the accommodation of the nuns was built.

The year 1944 was also marked by the approaching end of the war. All the construction of the hospital and minor modifications were stopped. On 30 December 1944, the hospital had 550 beds, divided into 5 departments: the Surgical and Gynaecological Department, the Department of Internal and Neurological Diseases with a subdivision of infectious diseases, the Department of Eye Diseases, the Department of Ear, Nose and Throat Diseases, and the Department of Skin Diseases. Doctors, largely of German nationality, were conscripted into the army and the hospital began to suffer from a shortage of doctors.

At the end of 1944, German refugees began to flood the hospital, fleeing the Red Army to the West. The hospital's inpatient facilities could not accommodate the huge number of patients. The corridors were lined with makeshift couches, the outpatient clinics and surgery rooms were in constant use.

In May 1945, more patients began to appear in the hospital - Red Army soldiers, the wounded and the sick. The liberation of our republic in May 1945 and the economic and political changes associated with it marked the beginning of a new epoch in the history of Czechoslovak health care. The health of the population was very poor. Occupation, war events, Germanisation, mental and physical hardship and inadequate nutrition left severe shocks on the population health. The mortality rate rose to 17%, with 126 out of every thousand children born dying before the end of one year. The incidence of infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis, also increased.

The city felt a severe shortage of doctors. German doctors left or were deprived of the right to practice medicine, so that only 6 general practitioners, 5 specialist doctors (including the hospital's head physicians) and 5 secondary physicians remained in the town. The suspended director and head of the surgical department, MUDr. Hettfleisch, was replaced at the end of May by MUDr. Vítězslav Horn, who had returned from the concentration camp. By June 1945, all wards were already in operation with a full number of beds. By the end of the year, the number of secondary physicians was completed. In October 1945, a children's ward was set up, with MUDr. Pavel Ševčík, an assistant at the children's clinic in Brno, becoming the head.

In 1946, a dental department was established in the basement of the internal pavilion, and MUDr. Vojtěch Novák, head of the dental department in Zlín, was appointed its head. Nursing services in the Jihlava hospital were provided by the Sisters of Mercy of the Third Order of St. Francis in Brno, for whose professional qualification the nursing school was founded in the building of the Minorite monastery at the Provincial Hospital in Jihlava.

In 1948, other new departments were established in the Hospital Jihlava: the infectious department with a capacity of 80 beds with MUDr. M. Havlásková as the head, the tuberculosis department with MUDr. Hromek as the head, and the pathology and anatomy department with MUDr. František Pavlica as the head. For political reasons, the positions of hospital director and department head were divided, and MUDr. V. Horn was removed from the position of hospital director. MUDr. Horn's health, undermined by his stay in a concentration camp, was another reason for his retirement on November 1, 1949. MUDr. Rudolf Michl, head of the ENT department, was temporarily appointed director of the hospital.MUDr. Jan Vojta, formerly assistant of the surgical department in Třebíč, who was then working as head of the surgical department in Dačice, was called to take over as head of the surgical department. In September 1949, a recruitment competition was announced for the position of the head of the gynaecological and obstetric department, which had been part of the surgical department until then. MUDr. Miluše Hromádková was appointed head of the new department.

In 1949, the existing provincial system was replaced by the regional system and the town of Jihlava became the seat of the newly established Jihlava Region. The basic organs of the health administration in the regions became the health departments and the appointed heads of the health fields.

The 1950s

Between 1949 and 1960, when Jihlava was the centre of the region, including the districts of Dačice, Pelhřimov, Kamenice n. L., Havl. Brod, Žďár n. S., Velké Meziříčí, Moravské Budějovice, Třešt' and Telč, the health sector was ruled by a small department of the KNV under the leadership of MUDr. Jindřich Hromádka. In that shaky time of rearranging everything, the old man did not gain popularity - the times of the 50s, the dictatorship of hardness, were the methods of organization also in health care (district system of districtization was introduced). But in the given opportunities, the former nationalist, an enthusiastic Sokol with a human face and the wisdom of old age progressed and does not deserve disrespect and forgetting. The establishment of the Jihlava Region brought some advantages to the Jihlava health system. The hospital became a regional hospital and the heads of the main clinical specialties were appointed by regional experts. MUDr. František Bradáček was appointed director of the regional hospital in 1949-52.

Building adaptations and construction work on the new facilities were quickly completed. These included the adaptation of the former printing house in the children's ward, the construction of a gatehouse, the adaptation of the administration building, and a new cleaning station. In order to meet the requirements of a regional hospital, it was decided to open a number of other highly specialised departments: orthopaedic, radiological and urological. These plans were quickly implemented and the department was established in 1950. MUDr. Miloš Janeček, an assistant of the orthopaedic clinic in Brno, became the head of the orthopaedic department. MUDr. Miloš Jeřábek, assistant of the urology clinic in Brno, became the head of the urology department and MUDr. Vladimír Malý, assistant of the radiology clinic in Olomouc, became the head of the radiology department.

In 1952, a neurological department with physical therapy was opened, and MUDr. Otto Dostál, a former assistant at the neurological clinic in Brno, was appointed its head. In January 1953, the biochemical laboratory and the transfusion station were put into operation, with MUDr. Jaromír Svojítka in charge. The children's ward was moved to an adapted printing house and the building vacated after modifications was occupied by the pulmonary ward.

Despite the fact that in 1953 the hospital showed an increase in the number and quality of services, the number of beds stagnated. From 720 in 1951, the number of beds rose to 788 in 1954 and the number of doctors remained unchanged. MUDr. Hromádka, head of the KNV Health Department, pointed out that the hospital had only one decently equipped building - the surgical pavilion. He stressed that in the future it would be necessary to abandon the small and inconveniently located premises and transfer the entire facility to a new institute, which would be built on a suitable site and at the same time would fit in with the radius, which in 1947-50 comprised about 96,000 inhabitants. For some specialized departments, the population reached 370,000. After conducting a survey and considering all eventualities, the KNV Council decided to build a new hospital with a capacity of 982 beds on the grounds of the House of Health. The proposal was approved by the Ministry of Health and construction was due to start in 1956.

In 1952, District Institutes of National Health were established in all district towns, which concentrated health districts and other outpatient and inpatient medical facilities. In Jihlava, the districts were concentrated in the House of Health, which was inaugurated on 1 May 1955 thanks to the enthusiastic work of a group of health workers led by MUDr. Milan Rocha, the director of the OÚNZ. Later he became the director of the regional hospital and the deputy director of the KÚNZ for medical and preventive care. As of 1 November 1959, the director of KÚNZ was MUDr. Fr. Bradáček. Although the construction of the hospital stagnated during these years, the number of beds increased to 804. The largest departments of the hospital were the internal department (112 beds) and the surgical department (131 beds).

The 1960s

In 1960 a fundamental change in the status of the hospital happened. The KÚNZ in Jihlava was abolished and a new Institute of National Health was created, of which the hospital became a part. MUDr. M. Roch became the director of the OÚNZ from 1 July 1960, MUDr. Fr. Bradáček. In 1961, a separate position of the director of the hospital with a polyclinic was created, which became MUDr. Josef Večeřa. From 1 July 1964, MUDr. F. Bradáček took over the position of director of the OÚNZ. The changes in the area did not improve the spatial shortcomings of the hospital. The question of the infectious diseases and pulmonary wards became particularly urgent. Efforts to implement the construction of a new hospital continued. The construction of a new boiler house at the Health House and a pavilion for infectious and pulmonary diseases was started as the first stage of construction in 1961. The building was handed over to the Infectious Diseases Department in 1967. While all the constructions on the hospital site created conditions for the temporary improvement and improvement of the working environment and for better medical and nursing care, it was clear that there was only one solution, namely the construction of a new hospital. This was the third attempt to build a new hospital. A number of experienced medical professionals, led by Dr. Roch, were involved in this project.

The 1970s

In 1970, the design task for the first stage of the internal unit was approved. Construction started in 1973.

In the years 1970-80 the development of the hospital continued within the possibilities given by the hospital premises. However, the quality of the patient care continued to improve. Several new appliances were acquired together with the first computing equipment in the 1980s.

In 1972, the radiotherapy department became independent and MUDr. Jan Štěpánek was appointed its head.In the following year, the nuclear medicine department was opened and MUDr. Vladimír Malý became its head. The opening of the haemodialysis station in 1979, which was the second largest in Czechoslovakia at that time, was a significant event for the health care of Vysočina. The main credit for the establishment of the station went to the then head of the internal department I - prim. MUDr. Julius Vachtenheim.

The 1980s

Thanks to MUDr. Zdeněk Drobný, the inpatient part of the ARU was established in 1980. In 1981, the diagnostic pavilion was completed, where the clinical biochemistry department, the transfusion station and the radiology department moved in. These departments were also largely equipped with new equipment. Since 1982, the continuous operation of the "Rapid Ambulance Service" with two Skoda 1203 vehicles was started.

In 1983, the 8th floor building of internal medicine was completed and the following departments were moved in: radiotherapy, internal medicine I and II, skin, and pulmonary neurology. The headquarters of the hospital was moved from the Psychiatric Hospital to the vacated premises in the old hospital. Subsequently, the medical library was also moved from the old hospital to the connecting neck between the internal medicine department and the diagnostic pavilion. The Department of Nuclear Medicine moved to the Infectious Diseases building in the vacant space left by the Pulmonary Department, where it gained more space for its growing activities. A pavilion for the heavy radiators was built between the internal medicine wards and the diagnostic pavilion, equipped with state-of-the-art equipment and opened in 1987.

There was still a bed shortage in the hospital, especially for long-term patients. Therefore, in 1988, a ward for long-term patients was opened with 100 beds and MUDr. Zdeněk Novák was appointed director. The following year, the inpatient part of the rehabilitation ward was opened with 20 beds.

In 1989, the construction of the second building of the new hospital for the gynaecological-obstetric, paediatric and ophthalmology departments was started. The political and economic changes in the Czechoslovak Republic in 1989 were followed by organisational changes in the Jihlava hospital. Firstly, there were several changes in the positions of directors, heads and other functions.

The 1990s

In 1991, the Psychiatric Hospital became independent and in 1992, the OÚNZ was dissolved, resulting in two separate entities: the Jihlava Hospital and the Jihlava Polyclinic. Some departments were moved from the building of the Jihlava Polyclinic to the buildings of the Jihlava Hospital. There was an increase in the number of outpatient clinics, where some medical operations were moved.

In 1994, a new building of the Hospital Jihlava was opened, where the gynaecological-obstetric, paediatric and ophthalmology departments were moved in, and in 1995 the orthopaedics department was moved in from the Psychiatric Hospital. In recent years, several wards have acquired modern equipment - the latest sonographic equipment, etc. The old buildings have been adapted and the haemodialysis, urology, pharmacy and microbiology departments moved to the improved premises.

The division of the Jihlava Hospital into two buildings caused a number of organisational and economic problems. Therefore, the optimal solution was to complete a new hospital facility. The construction was officially started with the laying of the foundation stone on 15 September 1999.

21st century

The so-called glajcha was completed in May 2000. The operation of the two hospitals, almost 3 km from each other, was economically very demanding. Therefore, the beds were restructured and the wards were gradually moved from the old hospital to the new one.

The first department to be affected by this radical change was the Ear, Nose and Throat Department. On 1 November 2001, a new surgery II primary ward was established with a focus on traumatology. At the end of this year, the reconstruction of the boiler room was completed and the reconstruction of part of the infectious diseases pavilion started. During the whole year 2002, the finishing works on the addition building were in progress, which culminated in its inauguration on 12 December. A timetable was drawn up for the transfer of the individual departments from the old hospital site, and the hospital pharmacy and the pathology and anatomy department were moved during December. The hospital management was placed on the 2nd floor of the addition building, freeing up the entire 4th floor of the ODN pavilion for the rehabilitation department.

The year 2003 was marked by adjustments to the premises and moves. The premises of the internal block, the ODN building and the gynaecology and paediatrics pavilion were renovated. In April, the CSR and CS, in cooperation with them the ARU, the multidisciplinary ICU and the outpatient tract in the extension premises started their operation. Subsequently, the inpatient departments of surgery, traumatology and urology were moved to the internal medicine pavilion. Moving all the departments into one complex and putting the addition building into operation meant both increased comfort for patients and improved working conditions for the staff and enabled close cooperation between the different disciplines.

On February 5, 2004, the radiation department was opened, equipped with a modern set of interconnected radiation technology including a linear accelerator, and the NICU was ranked among the best equipped departments in the Czech Republic. In May, the Internal Medicine I and II were merged into one primary care unit, the gastroenterology department of the internal medicine department moved to the adapted premises of the gynaecology and paediatrics pavilion and became a regional consultation centre. The functioning of the individual emergency outpatient departments in Hospital Jihlava was centralized within the Institute of Emergency Medicine into one emergency department. In the autumn, the Department of Clinical Biochemistry was merged with the Department of Microbiology and Immunology under one primary care unit. The year 2004 marked a turning point in the cooperation between the public and private health sectors in the Highlands. In May 2005, the SANUS Centre for Assisted Reproduction started its operation. Jihlava ceased to be one of the few regional cities where this type of care was not provided. Today, hundreds of cured couples and babies born are proof that building the centre was the right step. A mammary centre was created at the hospital to speed up the diagnosis and treatment process and to increase comfort for patients.

Of course, other disciplines and workplaces in Hospital Jihlava were developing as well. For example, we were the first hospital in the Czech Republic to perform surgeries using the plasmakinetic system in urology; in orthopaedics, the navigation system was fully used in knee replacement surgeries; vascular surgery, endoscopic surgery in all surgical disciplines, radical oncological surgery and treatment of urinary incontinence in women were developed.

On 1 January 2006, the Hospital Jihlava was granted the status of a comprehensive oncology centre for the Vysočina region. At the end of the year we started administering biological treatment for selected types of malignant tumours. A centre for prenatal diagnostics and medical genetics started to operate in the hospital. The so-called wet process of developing images was ended and we switched to digitisation with the PACS system, and the complete digitisation was completed in June the following year.

In March 2007, a certified audit took place and the hospital was the first hospital in the region to obtain a quality certificate according to ISO 9001:2000. The certification covers the provision of basic and specialised inpatient and outpatient care, diagnostic, curative and nursing care, necessary preventive care, pharmacy activities, library activities, education of health care workers and provision of medical nutrition and catering. In June 2007, the hospital pharmacy was expanded to include a central cytostatics preparation unit, which not only ensured the quality of cytostatics prepared for patients, but also protected workers from the effects of dangerous exposure to potentially hazardous substances. A bone bank was established in the hospital, in the field of diabetology Hospital Jihlava was granted the status of a diabetes centre for adult and paediatric patients, and a new angiology unit was opened. In September 2007, a trial operation of the interventional cardiology department, the Cardiocentrum Vysočina CZ, started in the modified premises of the hospital. Since 2008, the Cardiocentre has been working closely with the newly established cardiology department of our hospital. The construction of both departments fulfilled the condition for the introduction of timely, accessible and modern cardiology care in the region.

During 2008, preparations were underway to meet the requirements of the national accreditation standards. A new method was introduced in the anaesthesiology and resuscitation department (the only one in the country): a special ventilation regime for patients with severe lung disease. The method is adopted from the United States, allows faster normalization of the lungs and reduces the cost of treatment. In December, we successfully passed the accreditation examination, receiving the title of "Accredited ZZ". Earning this seal of quality not only guarantees the delivery of quality care, but also recognizes the work and efforts of all staff who have contributed to meeting national accreditation standards. Within the framework of the EU Integrated Operational Programme, we have received the support for the project "Modernization and renewal of the instrumentation of the Centre for Comprehensive Cancer Care". The diagnostic pavilion was modified for the relocation of the Nucelar Medicine Centre and the installation of a hybrid SPECT/CT system. The reconstruction of the delivery rooms in home room mode, the first project of this type in the Czech Republic, is underway.

The hospital has also developed in the field of education - 27 disciplines have been granted accreditation, allowing the establishment of a training centre for doctors. In cooperation with the Polytechnic College in Jihlava, the hospital is a teaching centre of the Department of Medical Studies for the bachelor's degree programmes in midwifery and general nursing.

In 2009, Jihlava Hospital provided healthcare services in the segments of inpatient, outpatient, diagnostic and complementary care. The range of care was provided in 24 medical disciplines at more than 100 workplaces. There were 1 157 employees working in the hospital. The capacity of the inpatient section was 758 beds, of which 47 were in intensive care. In 2009, 24 328 patients were hospitalised and 358 740 outpatients were examined at the Hospital Jihlava.

In February 2010, the Hospital Jihlava was included in the national network of cardiovascular centres (acquired the status of a cardiovascular centre). This network, which was recently established by the Ministry of Health, consists of eleven comprehensive cardiovascular centres and six level II cardiovascular centres. Hospital Jihlava is a specialised level II cardiovascular centre.

In July 2010, the hospital obtained the status of an Ictal Centre. This network was established by the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic on 1 July 2010. It is the implementation of a long-term plan of the Ministry and professional societies to improve the quality of care for patients with acute stroke and to some extent centralise this care. The network is made up of ten comprehensive cerebrovascular centres and twenty-three ict centres. Hospital Jihlava is one of the stroke centres.