This is not surprising: in the context of war, infrastructure destruction, and large-scale reconstruction, the issue of high-quality, sustainable, and resource-efficient design of medical facilities in Ukraine is not only relevant but critically important.

Topics of Discussion: SWECO’s Key Insights and Global Standards

The key speakers from SWECO were leading experts in medical infrastructure: Anders Christensen, a consultant in hospital logistics; Cecilia Anderson, an architect specializing in healthcare design; and Erik Johansson, an urban engineer working with large medical campuses in Scandinavia. They presented an approach that is currently shaping the design of hospitals in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

Sweco has created over 100,000 projects in 70 countries, participated in the development of state-of-the-art hospitals and medical campuses, and collaborates with leading scientific and technological partners, including AstraZeneca and AI Sweden.

At the heart of their presentation was the EcoCycle model, which transforms hospitals into part of a closed urban cycle of water, energy, and waste. SWECO explained how combining energy, water, and waste loops allows hospitals to:

- reduce operating costs

- cut energy consumption

- use treated wastewater to generate heat

- integrate waste sorting and vacuum collection systems

- reduce emissions and the staff’s workload.

The demonstration of real-life cases was particularly valuable: Nya Karolinska Solna, Malmö University Hospital, and Uppsala Academic Hospital – medical campuses operating at a high level of automation, with AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) robots, pneumatic mail systems, vacuum waste collection, centralized logistics hubs, and real-time flow management.

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Logistics Is the Heart of a Hospital: Why Proper Planning Saves Lives

One of the key topics was a holistic approach to hospital logistics. Cecilia Anderson emphasized that properly designed flows are not just a theoretical concept, but a source of daily time savings and reduced risk of infections.

Participants were shown how structured solutions affect efficiency:

- Adjacency (correct proximity) of departments: reception next to CT and X-ray; operating rooms next to the sterilization unit; intensive care unit (ICU) next to the operating unit; laboratory next to the reception and ward departments.

- Clear separation of flows: clean/dirty, staff/patients/visitors.

- Separate corridors and elevators for waste, cargo, and patients.

- Separate logistics hubs, warehousing, sterile nodes, and laboratory modules.

- Integration of the pneumatic tube system between critical units.

These solutions are often overlooked in Ukraine. Therefore, at the operational stage, hospitals face problems such as cross-contamination, corridor congestion, and delays in the delivery of medicines and tests. Swedish experts clearly demonstrated that logistics must be planned even before the architectural sketch; otherwise, the hospital will be unmanageable.

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Automation: From Robots to Waste

The topic of automation attracted great attention. SWECO presented trends that are already shaping the hospitals of the future:

- AGV robots for transporting linen, medication, and sterile materials.

- Pneumatic tube systems for tests and medicines.

- Vacuum medical waste collection systems that minimize human contact and significantly reduce the risk of infections.

- Automated warehouses, digital inventory systems, and RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) control.

- Digital twins and simulation of logistics flows before construction.

Experts demonstrated how Sollefteå Hospital’s implementation of a vacuum waste system reduced corridor crossings and eased the workload on staff – earning it the title of “the hospital’s best investment” ever.

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Why It Is Important for Ukraine Today

Ukraine faces an unprecedented challenge: the large-scale reconstruction of its medical infrastructure, with dozens of hospitals needing complete reconstruction or full rebuilding. Medical executives unanimously emphasize that the old Soviet approaches to planning, logistics, and engineering systems cannot be used.

War conditions highlighted the following key factors:

- Stability and redundancy of all systems.

- Energy self-sufficiency and autonomy.

- Minimization of manual labor, which becomes critical during personnel shortages.

- Rapid restoration of hospitals after shelling.

- Safe and controlled patient flows during mass admissions.

That is why such practical workshops today focus on real tools that Ukraine can implement already between 2025 and 2030.

This workshop was the second in a series of joint educational events by ZDOROVI and SWECO aimed at fostering a modern culture of medical design in Ukraine. The strong demand and active participation of attendees demonstrated that Ukrainian specialists are eager for practical knowledge, international experience, and technical solutions that enable the construction of sustainable, automated, and efficient hospitals. ZDOROVI will continue to develop the professional community and support the healthcare sector through training, analytics, and partnership initiatives.

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