Budget and Finance Committee of the Lower Saxony State Parliament made a milestone decision.
The MHH building moves a big step closer to the future. Copyright: DBHN
28. June 2023
At its meeting today, the Budget and Finance Committee of the Lower Saxony State Parliament made a milestone decision for the new MHH building: The first construction phase with total construction costs of 974 million euros including risk buffer will be included in the measure financing plan of the "special fund for catch-up investments at universities under state responsibility" in the amount of 2.1 billion euros. Half of this special fund (1.05 billion euros) is earmarked for the new MHH building, the other half for the new UMG building. A prerequisite for financing the investment measures is their inclusion in the measures financing plan. Today's resolution by the Budget Committee was necessary for this.
The Budget Committee has thus created the essential basis for driving the new building project forward quickly and accelerating processes. Falko Mohrs, Lower Saxony's Minister of Science and Culture, explains: "The inclusion of emergency care and acute medicine in the measures financing plan is a major step forward for the project and represents the prerequisite for all further developments. The tenders for the planning services can now start sooner than planned. The MHH new building is well on its way."
Space for 562 beds and 24 operating rooms
Construction stage 1 comprises the functional areas of the central emergency department, emergency and trauma, heart and lung, and a significant part of the head and nerve center. On a floor area of approximately 119,000 square meters and a usable floor area of just under 52,000 square meters, space will be created for 562 beds (120 of which in the intensive care area) and 24 operating rooms. The construction phase can be built with the planned financial resources in such a way that it is fully functional and operational in itself. Professor Dr. Michael Manns, President of the MHH, is pleased: "With this decision, we have come a great deal closer to the new building for patient care and thus to the medicine of tomorrow. This is good news for everyone in Lower Saxony, but also in Germany and Europe. Another milestone on the way to a comprehensive future Hannover Health Science Campus has thus been reached, which includes patient care, research, teaching and translation."
On this basis, the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture can approve the necessary funds for the construction company responsible for the construction of the new building, Hochschulmedizin Bau- und Gebäudemanagement Hannover GMBH (HBG), for the coming months. Burkhard Landré, Managing Director of the umbrella company Bauvorhaben Hochschulmedizin Niedersachsen (DBHN), explains: "DBHN has examined construction stage 1 on the basis of the construction development plan and has given a positive vote. With the inclusion of construction stage 1 in the financing plan for measures, the MHH now has the budgetary security for its billion-euro concept on its campus. On this basis, further requirements planning can now be driven forward and implementation can begin. This is good news."