Ten health areas will be constituted on the country’s territory together with the reformation of the hospital sector. Four areas will be created in the center, three in the north and three in the south of Moldova. The hospitals will be located so that the patients from the area reach them in at most 60 minutes. The distance should not be longer than 70 kilometers, IPN reports.

According to the Government’s press service, the hospital regions will be strictly delimitated from the current territorial-administrative units. The emergency cases will be redirected to regional or central hospitals, while the flow of patients with chronic diseases to the local branches of regional hospitals. The draft reform strategy envisions the creation of a university hospital, four central hospitals, 11 regional hospitals under common management with the local hospitals in the given area and three specialized hospitals.

The hospital sector reform strategy was discussed in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Pavel Filip. During the discussions, the Premier underlined the necessity of working out a plan of action for a period of eight-ten years for regionalizing hospital services (by health areas) by building regional hospitals.

“The final goal of the hospital reform is to provide high-quality services and ensure the necessary comfort for patients. We should first of all have a clear, ideal view and will later identify the necessary investments and will reorganize the hospital system in stages,” said Pavel Filip. He instructed the Ministry of Health to finalize the reform strategy and submit it to the Cabinet for approval.