>@Tim Smit/Vaasa Hospital
©Tim Smit/ Vaasa Hospital
  • European Investment Bank (EIB) signs €72.5 million loan with the Vaasa Hospital District for the consolidation and extension of the Central Hospital in Vaasa.  
  • The financing will be used to centralise the current facilities on one integrated site.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a €72.5 million loan to the Vaasa Hospital District (VSHP) in Finland. The Vaasa Hospital District operates the Central Hospital in Vaasa and will use the financing to modernise its facilities and integrate all services on a single site. The hospital’s main site in Vaasa is made up of buildings scattered around an extensive campus, with some structures dating back to 1904.

A new wing - the H building - will be added to the existing Central Hospital building, providing suitable modern facilities for both patients and staff. It will also house the psychiatric care unit, which will be transferred to the main site from its current location 4 kilometres away, and integrate primary healthcare services and specialised hospital care. The new hospital building will increase the overall efficiency of the hospital district, including in terms of energy performance, leading to significant cost savings.

EIB Vice-President Thomas Östros stated: “In the current situation, investments in healthcare services are definitely money well spent. The EIB has extensive experience in financing Finnish hospitals, with over €2 billion invested in the last 15 years, and we’re happy to now be supporting the Vaasa Central Hospital as well.”

“The main purpose of our new hospital building is to enable integrated services between specialised and primary healthcare, as well as social services. To finance this, the EIB makes it possible to get a loan with good conditions and a maturity that suits our plans for economic sustainability, added Marina Kinnunen, Director of the Vaasa Hospital District.

Practically speaking, the new building will make it possible to quickly reorganise and isolate certain sections of the hospital without disrupting other functions, increasing the resilience of the healthcare system to pandemics such as the current COVID-19 health emergency.

Background information:

In 2020, the EIB made available nearly €677 million in loans for Finnish projects. The EIB borrows money on the capital markets and lends it to projects that support EU objectives, with the vast majority of loans being provided within the European Union.

The Vaasa Hospital District (Vaasan sairaanhoitopiiri - “VSHP”) provides care to a population of about 170 000 people living in the Ostrobothnia region along the western coast of Finland. The Vaasa Hospital District owns and maintains the Vaasa Central Hospital (320 beds, around 2 000 staff), which is located in the city of Vaasa (66 000 residents). It also operates a psychiatric hospital with 53 beds, which is currently located about 4 km away from the main hospital site.