The necessity of building a pediatric subspecialty hospital in Tehran

The necessity of building a pediatric subspecialty hospital in Tehran

In any society, children are considered the most valuable future assets of society. According to the World Health Organization, 30% of children worldwide are born with birth defects, and these defects alone account for 20% of childhood deaths, especially infants. Out of 21 common congenital disorders at birth, 14 of them require surgical interventions in the first year of life and during childhood, and if not treated in time, can have serious and unpleasant effects on the developmental or functional process of the child. The number of hospital beds in the country does not currently meet the demand for hospitalization, and according to officials at the Ministry of Health, more than 100,000 hospital beds are needed to meet current and near-future needs. Estimated by government facilities and in the absence of non-governmental sectors to facilitate the process of hospitalization or reconstruction of existing medical facilities, the process of completing the required number of beds in the country will take 40 years. Although a number of adult hospitals have been built in recent years, the construction of children's hospitals, especially in the field of pediatric subspecialties, seems to have received less attention.

Due to the crowded suburbs of Tehran, air pollution, high traffic, urban-rural migration poses more risks to the target community, namely children, and also because most pediatricians are based in Tehran, so the need to build such a hospital. In Tehran, much more useful than anywhere else in the country, it can meet the medical needs of children. On the other hand, the population density in the south of Tehran is very high. In other words, for every square kilometer, 20,000 people live in these areas, so it needs hospital care in the field of children. Undoubtedly, such a need is especially vital in the southern parts of the city.

Therefore, to achieve this important, Zanjireh Omid after holding several meetings with the President of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education and at the suggestion of the then Minister of Health, Dr. Ghazizadeh Hashemi and after 8 months of negotiations with the legal team Tehran University of Medical Sciences succeeded in signing a 95-year LBOT contract with this university.

According to this contract, a 26,000-square-meter land in the Javadieh area of ​​Tehran, on the western side of Baharloo Hospital, was given to Zanjireh Omid for 95 years so that it could carry out the construction project of a specialized pediatric hospital. The results of this project are as follows:

- A hospital with more than 400 beds that will provide all general and subspecialty pediatric services.

- A well-equipped and standard rehabilitation center for children that covers all the rehabilitation needs of patients on a large scale and will be fully in line with the current charitable activities of Zanjireh Omid. A 100-bed ward should also be dedicated to long-term rehabilitation care for children with multiple disabilities.

- The existence of a specialized research center for pediatric medicine with a focus on genetics is also one of the strengths of the educational activities of the Children's Hospital.

- In addition to conducting research activities in the field of medicine, the research center of this hospital will also operate in the field of laboratory research.

- Pediatric trauma center in the hospital that can meet the needs of children involved in the accident.

- High-capacity accommodation center next to the hospital is one of the unique features of Zanjireh Omid Children's Hospital. Since the hospital is a referral center in the country and even in the region, the existence of a residential center can solve the accommodation problems of patients who have referred from outside Tehran. This model of Zanjireh Omid children's hospital, according to all experts in the ministry and hospital construction specialists, has the most complete study package and is unique not only in Iran but also in the Middle East.