Donation-funded children’s hospital in Bucharest treats over 3,500 patients in its first year

More than 3,500 children have been treated in the first year of activity at the new hospital built by Dăruiește Viață within the Marie Curie Children’s Hospital in Bucharest. The facility, entirely funded through private donations and sponsorships, officially opened on April 16, 2024, and has since seen a significant increase in patient numbers and quality of care.

In its first 12 months, the hospital carried out over 4,000 surgeries, while the neuro­sur­gery department admitted 490 children - a 70% increase compared to the previous year.

The relocated surgery unit treated 1,042 young patients, and the oncology department, the only one in Romania offering a multidisciplinary approach for pediatric cancer cases, provided care to more than 100 children.

Built with an investment of EUR 53 million backed by over 350,000 individual donors and more than 8,000 companies, the hospital features 140 beds, five glass-walled operating rooms, and a range of amenities for both children and parents - from private rooms and parental beds to a cinema, indoor garden, radio studio, and observatory.

The new infrastructure also allowed for the launch of the capital’s first emergency on-call line for pediatric polytrauma patients.

“Knowing how this hospital was built, my son decided to donate his allowance savings after his first treatment here,” said the mother of a 9-year-old patient, as quoted in the press release. “When we returned for his latest treatment, he told me: ‘Now we go to the bank, right?’”

The hospital is the first stage of a broader project - the creation of Romania’s first Pediatric Medical Campus.

Plans for a second building, which will eventually house the remaining Marie Curie departments, were presented this week. Construction is expected to begin after the completion of technical documentation by the end of 2025.

(Photo source:Dăruiește Viață; credit MIhai Marinescu)