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Thursday, 25.04.2024, 06:47
Latvian government to allocate EUR 16 mln to Stradins Hospital
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The funds will be allocated on the condition that the construction be carried out in 2016, but the payment – in 2017.
The Health Ministry points out that without additional funding, it will be impossible to build the new premises, as well as to properly equip them. Furthermore, partial utilization of the new wing could increase the hospital's expenditure, as it will be impossible to fully clear the existing premises to use them for other activities.
If the hospital decides to cover additional costs from its own budget, it will significantly lose the financial capability to provide healthcare services, the ministry believes. In this way, the hospital will be forced to reduce the number of services, thus, increasing the number of patients waiting in line for treatment.
The ministry believes that without receiving additional funding, the hospital will be forced to reduce its staff costs, which already are on an extremely low level due to the lack of funds.
The government also decided that the Health Ministry, in collaboration with the Finance Ministry, will draw up an application for the European Commission, requesting permission for the European Regional Development Fund to cover the construction costs of the new hospital's wing before it is completed.
As reported, the Health Ministry's State Secretary Solvita Zvidrina previously indicated that about EUR 10 million from the European Regional Development Fund has been invested in the first round of the construction project. If the project is not finalized before the deadline, funding for completion of the project will have to be found so as to not cause additional costs for patients, Zvidrina explained.
If the deadline is not met, the project will have to be split in several parts in order to preserve the remaining ERDF funds, the state secretary added.
The construction of the new wing at Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital has been halted due to various flaws in the structure.
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