Some reprofiled hospitals in the hands of local authorities

According to data from the Ministry of Health, 67 hospitals have been reprofiled, 7 have been turned into nursing homes and the rest are under local administration, it is to be decided if they will be turned into private practices or into permanent centres.

Some decisions have alrealdy been made.

For example, one of the three hospitals in Buzău, the one in Parscov, is to be modernized, while the hospital in Pătârlagele is still shut down, which is why the local council has decided to sue the Minister of Health.

Three hospitals in Argeş are going to be turned into nursing homes, while other units are going under Piteşti County Hospital management.

The people of Botoşani County might be left without any county hospital, because none of the units meets the standards set by the Ministry of Health.

Under these conditions, they would have to go to Iaşi or Suceava.

In order for the people of Sulina to receive medical attention, the hospital will become a permanent centre with an on-call department.

Apart from ensuring medical attention to patients, a solution for the staff of the former hospitals has to be found.

In some cases the issue has been resolved, they got transferred, but in other cases, for example in Strehaia, Mehedinţi County, the problem persists.

The fate of former Strehaia medical staff, not decided yet

According to Radio Romania News reporter, Mihai Bădescu, the fate of the 21 former employees of the hospital in Strehaia still has not been decided.

People come to work, but they do not know who will pay them or if they will be able to live on the dole.

The situation with the medical equipment is the same.

Equipment worth millions of RON, almost new, have been left to rust off in closed care units.

The mayor of Strehaia, Simion Bucur, believes closing down a hospital that served 50 000 people was a mistake.

‘You cannot close a hospital that serves this many people and which is equipped to do so in every way’, the mayor said.

Those stil in Strehaia are hoping that the hospital will become an external unit of the Turnu Severin Hospital and will thus be able to resume its activity.

Translated by: Gabriela Lungu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University