The Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Pilsen has been operating in historically valuable and listed buildings since its foundation, i.e. for more than 70 years. These buildings were originally intended for a different purpose and their layout did not meet the requirements for modern teaching and research. Therefore, Charles University has been preparing for a long time the construction of a new university medical centre (campus) in the neighbourhood of the University Hospital Plzeň in Lochotín, where it purchased the necessary land for this construction. While the University Hospital has received significant investment funds from the state budget over the years, the Faculty of Medicine did not manage to start construction of the new campus until 2012. The faculty solved the various problems related to the modernisation of teaching and especially the dynamic growth of the number of students only by partial reconstruction of the internal premises and financially demanding maintenance of the listed buildings.

The first stage of the construction of the University Medical Centre was not completed until 2012-2015, when two projects co-financed by the Operational Programme Research and Development for Innovation were implemented (VaVpI). The first project was the construction and equipment of two buildings of the Biomedical Centre, a new institute of the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, which is primarily focused on research and development in the field of biomedicine, specifically on the replacement and regeneration of vital organs. The second project was the construction of the first building of the theoretical institutes. Five existing theoretical institutes of the faculty, which moved from the historical buildings, found a new home in this building from the academic year 2014/2015.

These projects OP VaVpI were followed up in 2015 by the project for the completion of the Blue Auditorium with a canteen. It was supported by the project Development and renewal of the material and technical base of Charles University.

In 2015, preparations began for the completion of the remaining parts of the University Medical Centre (UniMeC for short).

In 2016, an application was submitted for a grant from the OP VVV, ERDF call for universities to co-finance the project of construction and equipment of a crucial part of the main building. This project was recommended for funding and its implementation started in autumn 2017.

For the parts that cannot be co-financed from the OP VVV project (canteen, dean's office), the faculty obtained funding from the 133 240 Development and renewal of the material and technical base of medical and pedagogical faculties of public universities.

The actual construction work started in September 2019, the construction was completed in July 2022 and the building has been in full operation since September 2022. The remaining nine theoretical institutes, the support facilities (Scientific Information Centre, Information Technology Centre, Operations and Technical Department) and the Dean's Office have moved to the main campus building. The canteen and the cafeteria function here.

With the completion of the main building and infrastructure, the UniMeC campus is now complete and the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen is concentrated in one place. Except for the clinical departments, of course. But contact with them has also improved significantly, as most of them are located on the premises of the Plzeň - Lochotín University Hospital, which is directly adjacent to the UniMeC campus. A sports hall with the facilities of the physical education institute should be built next to the main building.

Kampus Plzeň

However, the priority goal of the efforts of the Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen is not only the investment construction itself, although it will undoubtedly provide a significant improvement in the material and technical conditions for teaching and research.

An example of a major improvement is the new Simulation Centre, where students practise real interventions on mannequins - simulators, ranging from basic skills simulators for training cardiopulmonary resuscitation (indirect cardiac massage and artificial respiration) and similar simpler actions to advanced simulators for intensive and emergency medicine. The main objective of the faculty is to increase the quality of the theoretical and practical teaching provided, to increase the professional relevance of education to the requirements of hospitals for graduate doctors, to improve the care of talent with a consequent impact on increased research performance.

The construction and equipment was supported by the Operational Programme Research, Development and Education and the Ministry of Education and Science's programme Development and renewal of the material and technical base of medical and pedagogical faculties of public universities.

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