BRATISLAVA, November 7, (WEBNOVINY) — Transformation of the legal form of state-run hospitals to joint-stock companies will not take place this year. The future government to arise from early elections in March will have to decide on whether it will definitely be suspended, agreed President Ivan Gasparovic and Prime Minister Iveta Radicova at their meeting on Monday. “I can definitely guarantee that there will be no transformation before a new government is formed,” said President Gasparovic after the meeting. He proposed the Cabinet to amend the law containing the schedule of transformation with either prolonging the deadlines for its implementation of with completely omitting the provisions on transforming the hospitals.
Prime Minister Radicova underlined that all such proposals need first to be adopted by parliament. “It is not in the powers of the Cabinet. Yet, the law mentions postponing the transforming until June in cases of extraordinary cases. And I dare to say that early election is such special case, so a postponement until the end of June is possible within the terms of the valid law,” said Radicova. She also added that this would allow the new Cabinet to decide whether the transformation should continue after the elections. “I respect the situation, early elections will take place, may the new government decide whether the form we have prepared is the right one to provide for better functioning of the hospitals and using public funds,” she continued.
Already last Friday the president issued a statement recommending Health Minister Ivan Uhliarik to halt the transformation. Yet, the process of settling the debts of hospitals still continues. Both the president and prime minister expect over 2,000 doctors who filed notices in order to protest against situation in health care to reconsider leaving their jobs. Radicova also thinks that the doctors should discuss their problems with the future government after March 2012 elections.
The revision to the law on health insurance companies, which took effect in April of this year, facilitates transformation of state-run hospitals into joint stock companies. Hospitals have time to do so by the end of the year, but the deadline can be moved up by six months in justified cases. The state will be a founder and a 100-percent shareholder of the future joint-stock companies and the Health Ministry or a respective ministry, e.g. the Transport or Defense Ministry, will act on their behalf in specific cases. Altogether 31 facilities, for which the parliament already approved 350 million euros to settle their debts, are to undergo transformation.
Abandoning transformation is one of the demands of the over two thousand hospital doctors who have filed their notices at the end of September. It was also the intention of the opposition SMER-SD; its MP and former Health Minister Richard Rasi tried and failed doing so through an amending proposal to the revision of the law on pedagogic employees which he submitted at the October parliamentary session.
SITA