site.btaHealth Ministry to Provide Additional 300,000 Lv to Hospitals in Lovech, Vratsa

Sofia, October 10 (BTA) - The Health Ministry will provide additional 300,000 leva to the hospitals in Lovech (North Central Bulgaria) and Vratsa (Northwestern Bulgaria), Health Minister Nikolai Petrov told journalists Tuesday. He took part in a conference on innovation and good practices in health care. The money owed for the two hospital's emergency care activity has already been paid, the minister specified.

Last week, employees of the Vratsa Regional Hospital staged two-day protests against the likely closure of the institution. They demanded payment of wages which were a month and a half in arrears. The municipal hospital in Lovech has also been having serious financial problems due to accumulated debts.

In Petrov's words, there are other threatened hospitals that can find themselves in the same situation as the two in Lovech and Vratsa. In the event that violations are established that have led to significant debts, specific measures will be taken and possible changes made in the corresponding hospital's leadership, the minister added.

Addressing the participants in the conference, Petrov said that a broad public discussion is needed on the resources for and the direction and purpose of the health care system's development, with good practices needed to be taken from more successful countries. Balance is needed between the system's scope and its innovation, he went on to say. "What is typical for our system is that there are places with very well developed technological solutions, but the question of how to access them is not very clear," Petrov noted.