Graz Elisabethinen hospital opens timber-built expansion

The Elisabethinen Hospital in Graz has opened a new building and extension constructed in timber, ORF reports. The 36,000-square-metre project is designed with sustainability in mind, and a further 75 beds are planned by 2030.

The hospital is now Austria’s first multi-storey hospital built using timber construction. The project created 222 beds and day clinics across 11,000 square metres, according to the report. Managing director Christian Lagger said the planned additional beds should bring the total to 222 by 2030.

The expansion is intended to allow the hospital to move the entire geriatric psychiatry service from its Graz-Süd location to the new building. The move is part of a hospital restructuring programme in Styria.

Lagger said the project drew inspiration from Scandinavian countries, where he said healthcare facilities are often built with timber. Some members of the team raised concerns about fire safety and hygiene, but the project went ahead.

The hospital will retain its internal medicine department and intensive care unit. It also has a palliative care unit with an attached hospice, a pain centre, neurology department and sleep laboratory, as well as day clinics for post-traumatic stress disorder and multiple sclerosis.

Styria’s state statistics office expects nearly half of the region’s residents aged over 65 to live in the region within the next 10 to 15 years. The report says this will increase the need for appropriate medical and nursing care.