On Wednesday, President Rumen Radev called on the government to reconsider its decision to set up a private children's hospital, and on MPs to exercise control over the actions of the government for which they have taken responsibility. Radev's statement was in connection on the Council of Ministers' decision to approve a project for the construction of the private Mom and Me Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment.
Following the decision, the Public Council for the establishment of the National Children's Hospital demanded that the caretaker government provide an immediate explanation for the approval of the project, as this could potentially jeopardise the long term efforts to establish a children's hospital.
Later on Tuesday, the Health Ministry responded that the Mom and Me is not a children's hospital, but will cover the treatment of patients mostly over the age of 18, and only one pediatric ward is planned in the structure of the hospital (with 40 out of its 413 beds); "There is no conflict between the two hospitals - one is for both children and adults and the other will only be for children," commented caretaker Prime Minister Dimitar Glavchev on Tuesday, stressing that the Health Ministry has assured him that funding for the state children's hospital has been secured.
In his statement on Wednesday, quoted by the presidential press service, President Radev stressed that healthcare, especially children's healthcare, should be developed as a state priority, not as someone's business. "That is why under the caretaker governments for which I was responsible as President, all lobbyist attempts to privatise children's healthcare were pushed back. The caretaker government of Prime Minister Galab Donev secured land for the construction of the National Children's Hospital, prepared a detailed spatial plan and secured the assistance of the European Investment Bank for the construction. Unfortunately, the issue was subsequently ignored, and today's caretaker government, instead of moving this project forward, is contributing to the transformation of a publicly important cause into a private one and to the perpetuation of the practice of health care working on the principle of profits rather than for the public benefit," he said.
Radev stressed that with the constitutional amendments, political parties and Parliament have taken caretaker governments under their control. Institutions are obliged to take into account the shortcomings of social systems and correct them, not to legitimize and deepen them with their own decisions, The President argued.
Vice President Iliana Iotova told journalists in Parvomay on Wednesday that many governments have shied away from signing such an agreement,"hopefully Glavchev's motives are convincing enough".
Iotova expressed hope that the private hospital would not eliminate and threaten the construction of the state children's hospital, which generations of Bulgarians are waiting for.
The Council of Ministers' decision to establish the Mom and Me Multiprofile Hospital for Active Treatment caused a string of criticism from multiple political forces and figures on Wednesday. Continue the change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) said that they will refer the case to the state prosecution service, as well as the State Agency for National security.
Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) Co-Chair Delyan Peevski also called on the caretaker government to immediately cancel its decision, as quoted by the MRF party press centre.
The GERB party issued a statement expressing the expectation that all governments, regardless of whether they are caretaker or regular, should work for the implementation of the project to build the National Children's Hospital.
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