A new centre for transplants has been developed at the Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases in the city of Zabrze in Southern Poland. It provides safer, more advanced and more comfortable conditions for treatment than previous facilities, allowing a wider range of patients to receive life-saving surgery.
A state-of-the-art heart, lung and blood vessel transplant centre in Poland’s Silesia region
- 23 November 2017
This is one of Poland’s best medical centres for cardiology and cardiac transplants and surgery. It has made an enormous contribution to extend life-saving healthcare to a larger group of high-risk patients such as those with cystic fibrosis who desperately need lung transplants.
The complex of treatment units, medical equipment and laboratories reinforces the Silesian Centre’s status as a national centre for treating serious heart, lung and vascular disease.
The Centre has already had the largest lung transplant programme in Poland. Now, it is the first in its region that can carry out lung transplants for cystic fibrosis patients, who are highly vulnerable to infection after surgery. In addition, it provides artery transplants, heart transplants and artificial lung and circulation support.
Specialist units and technology
The transplant complex takes up four floors in the Centre, covering a total area of 8 500 m2. It includes operating theatres, an intensive care unit, a transplant ward and a cardiac surgery ward. There is also a special isolation sub-unit for treating cystic fibrosis in adults and children and a room for invasive diagnosis and treatment of lung diseases.
For clinicians, the complex provides state-of the art equipment: a blood bank and serology laboratory, a tomography laboratory, a central sterilisation unit, a magnetic resonance laboratory, a nuclear medicine laboratory and a complex of scientific laboratories.
Doctors’ rooms receive data directly from the diagnostic laboratories, so that specialists from different disciplines can consult together to determine the best treatment options.
More care and comfort
These upgrades make transplant services possible for patients previously considered too unwell for treatment. Patients recover in fully-equipped beds in single or double rooms, receiving specialist physiotherapy after treatment. There are also consultation spaces for doctors, patients, families and a psychologist to discuss diagnosis and options, along with more comfortable waiting areas for visitors and families.
During the project, doctors and administrative staff were involved in the infrastructure design and development at every stage. Furthermore, Poland’s Ministry of Development worked closely with the Centre to help keep the project on track.
The project has resulted in a total of 45 medical and administrative jobs.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Extension of the Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases in Zabrze (Module C) – creation of a nationwide clinical and scientific centre for lung and heart transplantation and treatment of cystic fibrosis in adults and children” is EUR 25 441 926, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 21 113 831 through the “Infrastructure and Environment” Operational Programme for the 2007-2013 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Health, safety and improvement of health protection system”.