Southern Finland to get a modern hospital worth EUR 175 million

The European Investment Bank will finance its construction

Today, the European Investment Bank (EIB) announced that it has signed a 175-million-euro loan with the Finnish Kanta-Häme Health Care Joint Authority (KHSHP). With this financial loan, the bank will support the construction of a new hospital building in Hämeenlinna and improve healthcare in the region.

A state-of-the-art building

The Ahvenisto (“Assi”) hospital will be a modern building with an area of about 79,000 square metres located close to the existing central hospital. The current healthcare facility, according to the EIB, was built in 1979 and is believed to be the only acute care hospital in the country that has not been renovated since it was first constructed.

With the new project, KHSHP will set out to address and resolve the most pressing issues in the region, namely the advanced ageing of the population, the shortage of qualified healthcare workers and the increasing costs of medical services, among others. CEO of KHSHP Seppo Ranta commented on the project, sharing:

“The new Assi hospital marks a crucial improvement in healthcare in the Kanta-Häme region. The planning of the new hospital started from the goal of creating an excellent customer and patient experience. The new building will be a smart hospital with state-of-the-art technological solutions. EIB is a major funding partner in this project, and a key player in making this major improvement possible.”

It is important to note that the new building will be a “climate-friendly building”. In other words, the EIB and KHSHP expect Assi hospital to perform about 20% better than legally required in terms of energy efficiency.

As such, the project will not only improve the health and wellbeing of Kanta-Häme’s 170,000 inhabitants but also contribute to making the region more sustainable.