General practitioners and paediatricians can reapply for a grant to open a new outpatient clinic. Applications are being accepted until the end of 2025, with four million euros allocated from the renewal plan for this third round of calls. Health Minister Zuzana Dolinková (Hlas-SD) announced that the amount of the allowance depends on the level of a district's vulnerability to a shortage of doctors: black districts will receive 80,000 euros, red districts 70,000 euros and orange districts 60,000 euros. A map of the districts is available on the ministry's website. Dolinková called on all doctors to get involved in opening new clinics in the most vulnerable areas, where there is a lack of general and paediatric clinics. The recipient of the grant must run the dispensary for at least five years, otherwise he or she is obliged to return part or all of the grant. Information is available at novaambulancia.sk. The Minister also informed that 140 applications were submitted in the first two calls.
From the first call 15 clinics for adults and 6 for children were established, from the second call 68 clinics have already drawn money and 18 are still in the process of evaluation. The ministry plans to fund more than 120 new outpatient clinics in vulnerable regions by 2026, with a total budget of EUR 10 million. The opposition SaS party welcomed the call, but warned of delays in meeting other milestones of the health sector renewal plan, including the digitalisation of pathology and the new Martin hospital project.
SOURCE: TASR
