- The infrastructure developments at the University of Debrecen have reached yet another milestone. The current modernization clearly demonstrates the approach according to which, in addition to healing the body, healing the soul and maintaining one’s mental health are also becoming increasingly important. This top-priority project is a response to the growing needs of society while it seeks to strengthen all aspects of the Hungarian child and youth psychiatric care system - said György Kossa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Count István Tisza Foundation for the University of Debrecen, in his welcome speech at the inauguration ceremony of the renovated child psychiatric building of the Clinical Centre on Monday.
The renovated building on Bartók Béla Street currently houses a drug outpatient clinic, an addiction specialist clinic, a 10-bed day-care sanatorium, an Autism Outpatient Clinic and the premises of child psychiatry clinics.
In order to improve inpatient care, two wards with higher level of security were established, and the building also functions as the home for Clinical Psychology Specialist Centre, which is unique in Hungary.
- The medical community focuses chiefly on organ disorders and has difficulties understanding the salient logic of psychiatry. Here, there is an opportunity for psychiatrists and psychologists to work side by side, in cooperation, so that they can perform their activities even more efficiently to the general satisfaction of the population - said Zoltán Szilvássy, Rector of the University of Debrecen.
Zoltán Szabó, Vice-Rector and President of the Clinical Centre, highlighted that the recently completed integration process in child psychiatry had also set the provision of efficient patient care as a priority based on unified management and professional guidelines as well as strict professional protocols.
- A structural and technological regeneration in line with European standards is essential for top quality medical work, so the management of the University of Debrecen and the Clinical Centre also puts special emphasis on infrastructural modernization in addition to the continuous development of the professional care system. Apart from the implementation of modern infrastructural conditions, the equipment pool has also increased to include a number of new elements. The newly acquired psycho-diagnostic and developmental tools can be put to good use in treatment and care work, supporting even more efficient child and youth psychiatric care, while the work of specialists is also supported by novel IT solutions - said Zoltán Szabó, Vice-Rector and President of the Clinical Centre.
At the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, as many as 18,000 outpatients and 600 inpatients are treated every year.
- Our city's important strategic sectors, including the provision of healthcare, are constantly evolving. The University of Debrecen is a very important and strong ally for us, thanks to which healthcare in Debrecen is stable and properly functioning - said László Papp, Mayor of Debrecen.
This HUF 900 million investment has been implemented with the help of non-refundable support received from the European Regional Development Fund under the Széchenyi 2020 program as part of the project titled “Improving the infrastructural conditions of the child and youth psychiatric, addiction and mental healthcare system.”
- The current modernization in Debrecen is part of a nationwide development, as perhaps its most beautiful element, which may be regarded its cherry on the top of the cake. Today, the health sector faces numerous challenges in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry. These trends have become even stronger during the coronavirus pandemic. Children have experienced a sense of isolation that needs to be addressed, not to mention addictology, which is a major challenge itself. What the University of Debrecen and the city of Debrecen do in the field of child health is certainly exemplary and worthy of support - said Péter Takács, State Secretary for Health.
In cooperation with Országos Kórházi Főigazgatóság [National Hospital Directorate General] and its consortium partners, a total of HUF 8.7 billion has been invested in improving the infrastructure of child psychiatric care at as many as thirteen different sites across Hungary.
Press Center - CzA
