New hospital opening date pushed to 2013

The new hospital will cover an impressive 82,000 square metres

The project involves the redevelopment of the current Pasteur hospital in the hills of Nice, covering a total of 81,000 m². The new hospital has suffered numerous setbacks since it was first commissioned in 2005, with costs now spiralling to 352 million euros, a significant increase from earlier estimations of 255 million.

Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi joined the president of the conseil général Eric Ciotti and a host of local politicians and medical representatives yesterday to inspect the site, confident that the first stage of the project will make its new completion date of mid-2013. The St. Roch hospital in the city centre will then be completely out of action, transformed into the new mairie headquarters.

Pasteur II is an ambitious project, combining hospital facilities, research, and university teaching all under the same roof. The facility will provide 730 beds, the majority of which will be single-rooms, and treat 730,000 patients per year (excluding emergency). It will house a neuroscience clinic, urology unit and cardiovascular centre, as well as an emergency ambulance service and new medical school.

The development of university teaching facilities comes at a crucial time for young medical hopefuls. With a blowout in waiting lists, France is currently suffering from a serious lack of doctors, partly due to the limited number of medical school places offered to undergraduate students. For the 2011-2012 academic year, there were only 124 medical student places available at the University of Nice Sophia Antipolis for new undergraduate students. Meanwhile, there are one million residents of the Alpes­Maritimes region who demand daily medical services, a population that almost multiplies by five in the height of summer.

Authorities are also confident this multi-million euro investment will give local employment a well-needed boost and undoubtedly improve healthcare for people across the region.

The opening of the first stage will coincide with the new extended tramline 1, which is perfect timing for Mayor Christian Estrosi as it falls right in the middle of the next municipal elections. The rest is due to be completed by March 2014.

Cassandra Tanti and Louise Kirby