Financial Services, Latvia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Medicine

Earlier, representatives of the Health Ministry said that appropriations from the Finance Ministry’s budget subprogram for contributions to the EU budget had to be reallocated to a budget subprogram for ensuring emergency medical assistance in hospitals in order to improve the two hospitals’ solvency, ensure a positive cash flow and sufficient working capital, necessary for the hospitals’ successful functioning.

According to the government-approved proposal, EUR 5.4 million will be injected in the capital of Stradins Hospital and EUR 11 million in the capital of Riga Eastern Hospital.

The Health Ministry said that the capital increase will be used this year to pay for the services provided and goods purchased during the previous accounting period in order to ensure an uninterrupted provision of tertiary healthcare services to patients and the hospitals’ financial stability.

The Health Ministry will be controlling the use of the financing and expects the hospitals to report on the use of the financing by January 15, 2018.

Prime Minister Maris Kucinskis (Greens/Farmers) said earlier that there will be no more requests from the two hospitals to cover their debts.

Health Minister Anda Caksa explained that the capital increase would be a “life jacket” provided to the two hospitals and that while Stradins Hospital has already received EUR 10 million for paying its debt, Eastern Hospital had not been granted such support.