New Vienna hospital buildings to include air conditioning

New hospital buildings in Vienna will include air conditioning as prolonged heat puts pressure on patients and staff, ORF Wien reported.

Four of the seven clinics run by Vienna’s public hospital network have mostly unair-conditioned patient wards. The Floridsdorf and Landstraße clinics, as well as Vienna General Hospital, are currently centrally air-conditioned.

At the other public hospitals, only operating theatres, intensive care units and similarly sensitive areas are cooled. The Donaustadt and Ottakring clinics, and parts of the Favoriten clinic, are currently under heat alerts.

Health concerns

The Vienna Medical Chamber and trade union representatives have warned of health risks for staff and patients. “The buildings are not designed for what climate change brings, with prolonged periods of high temperatures,” said Hannes Wölflingseder of the health division of the vida trade union.

Wölflingseder called for common heat protection plans for all hospitals, as well as funding to implement them. The Vienna Health Association told ORF Wien that it had already introduced emergency measures, including ceiling cooling and shading.

Retrofitting considered too costly

Installing air conditioning throughout the existing hospitals, as demanded by the ÖVP and FPÖ parties in Vienna, would be problematic for hygiene and cost reasons, according to the health association.

“The construction work required in such old buildings would be too extensive. It would not fulfil its purpose. These large cooling systems take up entire rooms that we would have to install separately,” said Michael Lischent of the Vienna Health Association.

Air conditioning has already been included in all new hospital projects, including the Favoriten clinic. The city says it can guarantee that the new clinics will have cooling systems. As part of the modernisation, hospital-grade central air-conditioning systems will be installed, with specialised medical filters intended to protect against germs.