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Health Minister: Construction of regional hospitals to be sped up, investment continuity required
Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu said on Monday that the projects for the construction of the regional hospitals in Iasi, Cluj and Craiova will be sped up, emphasizing that investments in the old hospitals must also be consistently carried through.
"All three projects for the regional hospitals will be sped up, there are projects such as the one in Sibiu or the one in Brasov which have already begun. The preparation of these hospital projects has started and they will be handled with all due attention. (...) We need investments in the old hospitals as well, these investments must be consistently carried through. (...) It's clear that the problems are not from yesterday, but it is equally clear that just looking back to find culprits is not of much help and it definitely doesn't help the patients and those who care for them," Voiculescu said at the debate "Romanian Hospitals, Where To? The Medical Act vs. Infrastructure."
As far as the new hospitals are concerned, the Minister believes that any investment project needs a solid preparation, not just "feasibility studies" done by a shell company.
"Solid preparation means a feasibility study done by someone other than a shell company, it means a feasibility study that serves as foundation for a serious investment project and not as basis for the financing of one party or another. That's what has happened over the years: various parties and many hospital managers, maybe even people who have held this office here, have done feasibility studies meant rather to serve their party or their personal interests. (...) I won't do what has been done over and over again in Romania, mark the location of the future hospitals on paper. I will not present you models, or out-of-touch promises about hospitals shooting up in Romania tomorrow. (...) You will be able to have access to information about the daily progress of these projects," said Voiculescu, who added that the Health Ministry will attempt to render staffing rules more flexible and revise them, especially those for COVID-19 wards.
"We consider this to be an urgency. We will create the national fund for patient safety in hospitals, a dedicated fund for specific actions, certain investments and not just that, we are also considering separate financing for certain types of maintenance. All these things are still under discussion. We are considering a general revision of the rules overall and support for hospitals," explained the Health Minister.