UZH Considers Dentistry Move

The University Children’s Hospital Zurich (Kispi) is currently scheduled to move into a new building in the Lengg neighborhood of Zurich in 2022. The site in Zurich-Hottingen currently occupied by the Kispi can from then onward be used by the University of Zurich’s Center of Dental Medicine (ZZM), whose premises are on Plattenstrasse and Pestalozzistrasse at present. A feasibility study later this year will review the basis for the ZZM’s move to the former Kispi site. After the ZZM’s move to Zurich-Hottingen, the Plattenstrasse and Pestalozzistrasse location could be used by the UniversityHospital Zurich (USZ). This means that the USZ will in future be able to offer part of its outpatient medical services in an easily accessible location in the immediate vicinity of its main site.

Feasibility checks of usage ideas

It is unlikely that the need for space for public buildings in the city of Zurich will decrease. The large property in Zurich-Hottingen, which is the current site of the Kispi, is an important strategic reserve site of the Canton of Zurich for such public purposes. After an inter-departmental working group made up of members of the cantonal government examined in-depth various public and private possibilities for use, the Government Council issued resolution 206/2018, according to which the site could be used as a new location for the ZZM. The ZZM’s relocation to Hottingen frees up space for the USZ’s outpatient clinic and removes some of the pressure on the USZ’s main site.

Michael Hengartner, President of UZH, welcomes the resolution by the Government Council. “The new location is very well suited to accommodate the ZZM. Due to the necessary upcoming restoration works at the current site, it’s also a sensible and cost-conscious solution. A complete restoration of the ZZM’s current premises while maintaining operations would be extremely onerous and expensive for all involved.”