Tallinn Social and Health Care Department suspended the international design procurement of Tallinn Hospital announced a week ago in order to exclude the risk of possible conflict of interest in the project team. A new procurement will be announced as soon as possible.

"The delay in the international procurement procedure makes it a little more difficult to stay on schedule, but in this situation I consider it right to rule out the current doubts and announce a new procurement as soon as possible after an additional audit. Although there is no substantive conflict of interest and no company has gained a competitive advantage according to our current information, we consider it important to review the procurement conditions and exclude any possible future disputes on this matter," said Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart.

The inspection of the project team revealed that in the preparation of the procurement, a member of the project team participated whose employment relationship and management authorities with their former employer had ended in November 2020, but the company changed the data in the Commercial Register only on 23.03.2021. The profile of this company would allow the participation in such a procurement.

"The City’s Internal Auditor's Office identified a potential risk of the conflict of interest with a routine background check of project team staff. Although there is no reason to believe that any potential bidder would have gained a competitive advantage as a result, we decided to rule out the possibility of an apparent conflict of interest. The city orders an additional audit of the terms of the design procurement and announces a new procurement within ten days,” City Secretary Priit Lello specified.

The deadline of the main project of the hospital building is 2023, after which a construction procurement will be carried out. The estimated cost of the procurement is €11 million.

In preparation for the design procurement of Tallinn Hospital, co-operation was established with the Estonian Association of Architects. The tenderer must submit the concept of the proposed hospital building and landscape architecture to the evaluation committee together with the price offer, and its quality will be assessed as a separate part of the tender.

The estimated total cost of Tallinn Hospital is €520 million (including VAT). The prospective cost of planning, design and construction is €450 million and the remaining €70 million is made up of investments into facilities and equipment. The estimated area of the hospital complex is 127,000 m2.

With the construction of Tallinn Hospital, the city plans to create a comprehensive hospital establishment and to build a new modern medical campus at Narva mnt 129, 129b instead of the depreciated hospital buildings of the current Eastern Tallinn Central Hospital and Western Tallinn Central Hospital. The new hospital near Tallinn Song Festival Grounds will improve the availability and quality of medical care for the residents of Tallinn and Harju County as well as the whole of Estonia in the future.

Tallinn Hospital will be established in co-operation between the state and the city, based on the co-operation agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the city of Tallinn signed on 18 February 2019 to prepare for the establishment of Tallinn Hospital. A prerequisite for the completion of the hospital is the financing decision of the European Commission. According to the plan, Tallinn Hospital should be completed in 2027.