Zabok Hospital Finally Embarking on Comprehensive Air Conditioning
Contract worth €1.7 million signed with Frigooprema from Split. Work begins in early October, with a 180-day completion deadline.
Contract worth €1.7 million signed with Frigooprema from Split. Work begins in early October, with a 180-day completion deadline.
On Wednesday, August 19, 2026, the Zabok General Hospital and Croatian Veterans' Hospital signed a contract for comprehensive air conditioning works. The contract, valued at €1.7 million including VAT, was signed with Director Dr. Andreja Filija. The agreement was signed by Hrvoje Majher, director of Frigooprema from Split, which was selected following an open public procurement procedure.
The project was first announced in March 2025, with an estimated value of around €2.4 million including VAT at that time. After the public tender, the final contracted amount came to approximately €1.7 million, resulting in significant savings. Funding was secured from the Ministry of Health and the Government of the Republic of Croatia.
The hospital is currently only partially air-conditioned. Operating rooms, delivery suites, laboratories, the Emergency Department, and several other hospital wards are equipped with cooling systems. The new project will extend air conditioning to the remaining hospital areas, moving toward a comprehensive solution.
"With this project, we will achieve what we have long desired: better working conditions for our staff and a more comfortable stay for our patients. Currently, during extreme heat, we manage with portable air conditioning units, but it is clear that this is not a permanent solution," emphasized Director Andreja Filija.
Since the works will be carried out in phases, temporary closures of certain hospital sections will be necessary. Work organization will be adapted to the execution timeline to ensure healthcare services continue to be provided to the greatest extent possible.
"When work is being done on a particular ward, patients will be moved to other wards within the hospital. We also count on cooperation with other healthcare institutions in Krapina-Zagorje County that have acute beds," added Filija.
The contractor is expected to be brought on site in about a month, with work scheduled to begin in early October 2026. From the date the contractor is brought in, the works are contracted to last 180 days.
Petar Vrančić, President of the Hospital Board, emphasized that air conditioning is not a standalone investment but part of a broader investment cycle aimed at modernizing and raising the hospital's standards.
"With this investment of around €1.7 million, we want to ensure better and more dignified conditions for patients' stay and treatment, as well as better working conditions for doctors, nurses, and all employees who work in the hospital every day," said Vrančić.
He added that changes are already visible around the hospital and that new projects for infrastructure improvement are being prepared in parallel. He also stressed the importance of financial stabilization, which the management, with the support of the Hospital Board, has achieved, as well as the regular fulfillment of obligations to the Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO).
"There is still a lot of work and new projects ahead of us, but our direction is clear: we want a modern, financially stable, and infrastructure-quality hospital that can meet the needs of the residents of Krapina-Zagorje County and all patients who rely on it," concluded Vrančić.
