The leadership of the Ministry of Health should talk to doctors, as they recommended us to do in 2020, ex-Prime Minister Ion Chicu, chairman of the Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova, said after dozens of doctors of “Toma Ciorbă” Hospital took to the streets to express their disagreement with the authorities’ decision to reorganize the institution. He noted that optimization of the work of the two medical institutions with different specializations is a mistake and is aimed at taking over the lot on which “Toma Ciorbă” Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital is situated, IPN reports.
Dozens of doctors on Tuesday protested against the Ministry of Health’s decision to reorganize two public medical institutions – “Toma Ciorba” Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital and the Dermatology and Communicable Diseases Hospital. The protest was attended also by ex-Premier Ion Chicu, who is dissatisfied with the reform started by the PAS government.
“Attempts to make this reform were made earlier too and it is clear that the land of “Toma Ciorbă” Hospital is at stake. I don’t think the argument that the hospitals are poorly equipped is convincing. Wealth cannot be secured by uniting two poor facilities. The hospitals must be equipped. Discussions should be held with doctors. There are no capacities at the hospital in Codru to accommodate those from “Toma Ciorbă”. The hospitals have different specializations and there are many things that prevent this merger. They chose a populist path, saying that there will be by one director fewer and the Moldovans should rejoice. What will they save if they leave only one administration? They will save 1-2 million lei. For comparison, tens of millions of lei will be absorbed by the Patriot Center,” Ion Chicu stated in the program “Resumé” on RliveTV channel.
According to the ex-Prime Minister, the doctors of “Toma Ciorbă” Hospital worked in the front line during the pandemic and this hospital cannot be merged with another institution with a different area of work.
“I recommend the minister to talk to doctors, to do what she suggested us to do in 2020. We must act carefully with regard to “Toma Ciorbă” as the danger of the pandemic hasn’t disappeared. Doctors are not afraid of losing their jobs. Doctors will never fail to earn their living in the Republic of Moldova because there is a huge shortage of staff. But they understand that one cannot merge two institutions with different specializations,” said Ion Chicu.
In a reaction response earlier, the Ministry of Health said the reorganization implies not the closure of any hospital, but only a merger under a common management. The Dermatology and Communicable Diseases Hospital operates at a capacity of only 40% of the available beds, while “Toma Ciorba” Infectious Diseases Clinical Hospital does not have an intensive care unit, a pediatric department and high-performance laboratories.
