LAPLAND CENTRAL HOSPITAL

The project involves the rehabilitation and extension of Lapland Central Hospital in Rovaniemi, Finland.

Benefits are expected to arise from the project's contribution to the overall health strategy of the region through appropriately configured infrastructure and organisation of care. The investment will allow for the reorganisation of service delivery and the introduction of up-to-date technologies to improve efficiency and effectiveness in order to respond to the evolving demographic and epidemiological needs of an ageing population. The soundness and quality of the underlying project, including its financial affordability and wider impacts on the community, will be examined and confirmed during appraisal.

As a hospital investment, this project addresses the sub-optimal investment situation in the European health infrastructure due to market failures originating from the public goods nature of hospitals and the large health externalities they generate. The project generates positive externalities through the provision of improved health services, enhanced emergency preparedness and the reduction of energy consumption. By providing integrated and efficient medical services of higher quality, the project aims to respond to the changing needs of an ageing population and to the developments in healthcare practices. The operation will ensure that Lapland Hospital District has sufficient financial resources for the timely implementation of the project; it will allow it to spread out the investment and ensure that the tenor of the loan links in with the economic life of the asset being financed. It will also complement funding from other multilateral financiang institutions.

Hospitals are not specifically mentioned in the EIA Directive 2014/52/EU amending the Directive 2011/92/EU, though the project might be covered by Annex II of the Directive in relation to urban development. The compliance with requirements of the EIA Directive 2011/92/EU as amended by 2014/52/EU on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Directive will be verified during appraisal. It is expected that the project will bear wider benefits to the community as healthcare is an element of social cohesion and economic development.

The Bank will require the Promoter to ensure that contracts for the implementation of the project shall be tendered in accordance with the relevant applicable EU procurement legislation (Directives 2014/24/EU and/or 2014/25/EU and/or 2014/23/EU as well as Directives 89/665/EEC and 92/13/EEC) as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU, with publication of tender notices in the Official Journal of the EU, as and where required.