USR project for seismic resilience of hospitals, voted by deputies

The USR project for the seismic resilience of Romanian hospitals was voted by the Chamber of Deputies as a decision-making body.

According to the normative act, which is now being promulgated by the head of state, the directors of hospital units are the ones who must request this expertise, until the beginning of next year.

According to the initiators, most of the buildings in which the hospitals in Romania operate are a danger to the citizens.

The bill, which was supported by all parliamentary groups, creates the necessary framework for the systematic national verification of seismic risk for hospitals in Romania.

The buildings, where most of the medical units in the country operate, were built 40-50 years ago, and, according to the document, until January 1, 2023, the heads of the medical units will order the beginning of their technical expertise.

The initiator of the document, USR Senator Cristian Ghica, stated that out of the total of 3.5 million square meters of usable area, representing the area of ​​all hospitals nationwide, about a third, ie one million square meters, are in first or second class seismic risk buildings.

500.000 square meters, which represents about 14% of the total usable area of ​​hospitals, is in buildings with a degree of seismic risk of one or two, but which have been rehabilitated in the last 10 years.

Therefore, by the beginning of next year, all hospital managers are obliged to start the seismic risk resilience procedure of all hospitals built before 1978, and this procedure should be completed by June 1, 2024. The possible consolidation of the buildings will be taken into account depending on the results of the seismic risk expertise.

Translated by: Radu Matei