The commissioning of the South Aegean Region to develop a master plan for the restoration, upgrade, and utilization of the old Rhodes hospital building to serve the needs of the local community.
Furthermore, according to government sources, he also announced the securing of €45 million in funding for the construction of a new hospital in Kos, which will include modern housing for staff, while the tender process for the Radiotherapy Center in Rhodes is also moving forward within the next 30 days, with funding secured from the Just Transition Program.
“A fifty-acre plot has been lying fallow for 26 years”
“For twenty-six years now, a fifty-acre plot, practically in the center of Rhodes City, has been lying fallow. We have decided, together with the Minister of Health, to effectively entrust the development of this land, which belongs to the Greek State, to the South Aegean Region.
What we now expect from the Regional Governor, who has extensive experience in this type of planning, is the development of a comprehensive plan for the development of this site, which could potentially house services such as a new courthouse, the lack of which has long been a source of hardship for the city of Rhodes as a whole,” the Prime Minister stated during his visit to the site, accompanied by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and South Aegean Regional Governor George Hatzimarkos.
“We are open to creative ideas. Our main concern is that public land not remain unused. Now the responsibility falls to you, and we will stand by your side, awaiting your plan so that we can support—financially, in whatever way we can—the proposals you submit,” added Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
What Adonis Georgiadis said
“We have accepted, Mr. President, the request from essentially all of Rhodes’s community organizations to transfer the site of the old hospital from Rhodes Hospital to the Regional Authority, so that a comprehensive plan can be developed for the utilization of a very large space within the city’s urban fabric, which has remained unused for 26 years,” the Minister of Health stated.
“The hospital left this site in 2000; it is now 2026, and apart from a few services of the Region, the Municipality, and the Rhodes Medical Association that are housed here, the rest—basically 80%—is completely underutilized, which means that the state, the Municipality, the city, and the local community are losing a lot of revenue. We must find a solution. We have great confidence in the Regional Governor, who is now responsible for taking over this space, and I believe he will present something significant for the local community,” he added.
Hatzimarkos: “Let it become the center of Rhodes’s urban renewal”
“We are in the heart of Rhodes City, just 300 meters from the city center, on a site that spans or exceeds 50 acres. Imagine, within the urban fabric, for the past 26 years—as the Minister rightly said—such a vast area, of exceptional importance, has remained undeveloped.
In some ways, it even offends our culture and tarnishes our image. “We accepted the call from the city’s stakeholders to take the lead in order to find a way forward so that a master plan can finally be developed, leading to the area’s development,” emphasized the Regional Governor of the South Aegean.
“We believe that this project is not just about this particular area, Mr. President; it is about an effort to revitalize a city that has been waiting to be redesigned for about a hundred years. A beautiful, wonderful city that is a bit ‘tired.’
We have begun and are working on a comprehensive plan, together with local stakeholders, civil society, and of course the Municipality of Rhodes, so that it may become the center of the city of Rhodes’s revitalization.”
New hospital in Kos with €45 million in funding
During his visit to the site of the old Rhodes hospital complex, the Prime Minister announced, according to government sources, that plans are now underway to build a new hospital in Kos, thanks to the securing of 45 million euros in public funds.
“On the occasion of my visit today to Rhodes and the Dodecanese, I am delighted to announce that on July 19, the government’s interministerial committee will approve funding for the new hospital in Kos, amounting to approximately 45 million euros. “A project that will be put out to tender immediately by TAIPED,” emphasized Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Radiotherapy Center to Be Put Out to Tender
George Hatzimarkos also informed the Prime Minister that the Dodecanese Radiotherapy Center in Rhodes is moving forward.
“In the next 30 days, it will be ‘up for bid’ on ESIDIS,” he noted.
The master plan for the tourist port of Rhodes is moving forward
Kyriakos Mitsotakis then visited the tourist port of Rhodes, where he was briefed on the progress of the master plan being developed to upgrade and expand its infrastructure, with the aim of better utilizing it and emphasizing its cruise ship reception capabilities.