Cross-border health center, first in EU, opens between Czech Republic and Austria

A unique cross-border health center has started operation in Gmünd, a Lower Austrian town on the border with south Bohemia.

It is the first such facility in the EU, available to both Austrian and Czech patients and offering its services in an area with poor access to healthcare.

On the Czech side of the border, Gmünd's neighboring town is České Velenice.

"It is one of the activities within a cross-border project in the framework of the Interreg program," South Bohemia Region Governor Martin Kuba told CTK.

"The goal of the Healthacross for future project was to map out, probe, and recommend further steps the Health Ministry and health insurers should take to secure smooth healthcare to both Czech and Austrian people in the border area, mainly in the area of České Velenice and Gmünd."

The center will contain offices from about ten doctors and physiotherapists. All members of the staff should speak both Czech and German.

"We will thus offer quality healthcare to the inhabitants of České Velenice and Gmünd. May similar projects continue in other border areas," Czech Health Minister Adam Vojtech wrote on Twitter.

České Velenice has about 3,500 inhabitants and Gmünd about 5,500. On the Czech side of the border, the nearest hospital is 55 kilometers away in South Bohemia's České Budějovice.