Heatwaves Strain Slovak Hospitals as Patients Suffer Without Air Conditioning

Extreme heat is disrupting medical care in Slovak hospitals, with patients developing worsening bedsores and children becoming distressed from high temperatures in wards that lack adequate air conditioning. The conditions have prompted concern among healthcare workers and families of patients, who say the heat poses real medical risks beyond mere discomfort. The issue drew public attention after Robert Kaliňák, Slovakia's Defence Minister and a senior member of the ruling Smer party — a left-wing nationalist movement led by former Prime Minister Robert Fico — dismissed questions about the situation in early July. Kaliňák compared hospital conditions to military training exercises, noting that soldiers sweat through drills without air conditioning and that even the government's own cabinet meeting room currently lacks cooling. The remarks were widely criticized by medical staff and patients' relatives as tone-deaf to the serious clinical consequences of heat in hospital settings. Unlike healthy individuals, hospital patients — particularly the elderly, newborns, and those recovering from surgery or serious illness — are far more vulnerable to heat stress. Elevated temperatures can accelerate the deterioration of pressure wounds, complicate medication management, and worsen a range of conditions. Healthcare workers say the comparison to military training fails to account for the fundamental difference between a fit soldier and a critically ill patient, and are calling for greater investment in cooling infrastructure across the country's public hospital network.