New outpatient clinics for Nicosia once hospital moves

THREE outpatient clinics will be set up in central Nicosia within the next two years to coincide with the opening of the new Nicosia General Hospital in Athalassa.

Nicosia Mayor Michalakis Zampelas told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the clinics would be built in order to provide patients with health care near the city centre.

“There will be a small outpatients hospital near the Ledra Palace Hotel, in front of the courts. It will mainly deal with primary care needs, but will also have some specialists in too,” he said.

An extension of the hospital will be set up within the city walls opposite the small mosque on Lefkonos Street, while the old market place which currently serves as an Olympics museum in Palouriotissa will be converted into a new branch of the existing Kaimakli outpatients hospital.

“We need to have spots for patients to visit within the city centre once the general hospital is moved to Athalassa,” said Zampelas.

The three new outpatient centres, plus the Kaimakli hospital, will cover primary care services (general practitioners). But the hospitals near Ledra Palace and in Kaimakli will also offer specialised care in certain areas, said the mayor.

“We have identified the services, we are in the process of identifying the locations and will have the centres ready for when the new General Hospital opens up,” he said.

Currently, primary and secondary outpatient services are carried out at the existing Nicosia General Hospital, causing difficulties and delays. Once the new hospital is ready near Latsia, primary care patients will be able to visit one of the four centres in the centre while secondary care services will be provided for by the new hospital.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.