Health minister says Heart Surgery Center is restructured, not closed

Minister of Health Andrei Usatyi said the Heart Surgery Center will not be closed, but restructured in order to optimize the work of the National Clinical Hospital and avoid the doubling of the provided services, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The heart surgery sections remain functional divisions of the National Clinical Hospital, while the change in the name does not affect the access to and quality of the heart surgery services that continue to be provided in full volume,” Andrei Usatyi told a news conference. According to the minister, there were eliminated only a number of administrative posts by merging such support services as the pharmacy, bookkeeping, laboratory and the functional diagnosis section. “From financial viewpoint, these divisions turned out to be inefficient in the managerial and clinical decision-making process. The internal stricture of the heart surgery sections for grownups and children has not been modified,” said the official. Andrei Usatyi also said there will be no layoffs as a result of the restructuring. But there will be saved about 500,000 lei a year. Attending the new conference, heart surgeons of the Center said they continue to work normally, while the restructuring process did not affect them. “Some persons intentionally misinform the population. We want the patients to understand that the Center is not closed. It is reorganized in a transparent way. This is a first step that will be followed by other steps aimed at optimizing the medical process and reducing costs,” said the minister. Earlier, a number of civil society organizations said the Heart Surgery Center will be closed under an order made by the Ministry of Health on October 21.