Strategic Planning for Cyprus Univ. Medical School (Eurasia)
Client Issue: After the completion of the planning of the University of Cyprus, the University set up an ad hoc committee in 1998 to study the practicability of establishing a Medical School as an additional Faculty of the University. The Cyprus Government requested that this idea be further developed in terms of technical & financial feasibility. Cyprus is a large island in the Eastern Mediterranean close to Turkey. Since 1974 following an invasion by Turkey it has been a divided country, the Turks controlling the northern third, the Greek Cypriots the southern two thirds. The rigid separation of the two parts which existed following the invasion is now very much less marked and large numbers of people from the North cross the border each day to work. This situation is relevant to the planning of Hospital and University services as more and more the division of the island is losing its rigidity and it becomes necessary to view the island’s population as a whole. The current population of the southern part of the island is 830000, with a further 200000 in the North . Additionally, the population is greatly increased by tourists, especially in the summer months, when, for example , in the peak month of July, the population increases by 340000.
Solution: In partnership with YRM (the architects of the University) we were appointed to carry out this study which was accepted in 2001. Further progress was delayed by political issues - principally Cyprus’s application to join the EU which succeeded in 2006.
Outcome: The Cyprus Government has now accepted the case for a Medical School & has asked that the study be updated to reflect current costs & the increase in the islands population. Since the country joined the European Union (EU), a significant Polish population has also grown, joining sizeable communities from Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria & Romania. This project is currently in progress & the planning review will take account of the teaching provision at the urban hospitals, principally the new General Hospital & the Archbishop Makarios Hospital in Nicosia as well as the General Hospitals in Limassol, Larnaca & Paphos.
