“I did so after mature consideration and considering my age. Furthermore, I want to focus exclusively on medicine and patient care,” Zavoral said in a press release. As the head of the Institute of Gastrointestinal Oncology of the ÚVN and the Gastrointestinal Oncology Center of the 1st Faculty of Medicine of the UK and the ÚVN, he also wants to devote himself to research and education.
The outgoing director led the ÚVN since July 1, 2010. During that time, the hospital went through a number of challenges and changes that the management managed.
“The Central Military Hospital in Prague has a high prestige and a tradition of being one of the best hospitals in the Czech Republic. I thank Miroslav Zavoral for his many years of service at the head of the hospital and I wish him success in his further professional and personal life,” said Minister of Defense Jana Černochová, who sought Zavoral’s resignation last year.
“She put a knife to his neck so that he would submit a request to leave his post,” described one of the sources familiar with the conflicts between the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and other branches of the state on condition of anonymity.
For example, the hospital came to the fore of media attention during the covid-19 pandemic, when in 2021 it ensured the operation of the largest vaccination center in Prague’s O2 universum hall and provided other places for testing and vaccination also on its premises, including in outdoor heated tents.
In the same year, Zavoral was the attending physician during the nearly fifty-day hospitalization of the then president Miloš Zeman. Zeman then criticized him for passing on information about his health to Senate President Miloš Vystrčil (ODS).
Vystrčil announced at the time that “in the opinion of the ÚVN, Zeman is now unable to perform any work duties due to health reasons and, according to the hospital, the prognosis for his state of health is extremely uncertain.” 24th April.
Unlike more than ten other teaching hospitals in the largest Czech cities, the ÚVN is not established by the Ministry of Health, it is managed by the Ministry of Defense together with the military hospitals in Brno and Olomouc.
