Hospital reform in Constitution or not?

Hospital reform in Constitution or not?

The Health Ministry will not submit its hospital stratification bill, a reform of the hospital network in Slovakia, as a constitutional law. Thus, Health Minister Andrea Kalavská (a Smer-SD nominee) opposed the demand from chair of the largest governing Smer-SD party and former PM Robert Fico, who wants the bill to be submitted as a constitutional law.

The current draft of the hospital's stratification plans to create a network of hospitals optimally distributed across the country with guaranteed funding from health insurance companies and fully functional by 2030. Hospitals are to be divided into three categories, each offering a different range of services. Local hospitals will be accessible to patients within half an hour from their homes, regional hospitals reachable within an hour, and national hospitals within 2 hours. Each category will offer a different range of services. Local hospitals will ensure a high availability of acute care, while regional hospitals will provide more comprehensive health care and national ones will deal with the most complex medical procedures.

If the hospital's stratification bill is submitted as an ordinary law, Fico said that the Smer-SD caucus would not support it. The junior governing Slovak National Party reacted that the conflict between Kalavská and Smer-SD must be resolved by the party. "The hospital stratification reform doesn't belong in the Constitution," stated Klára Debnár, spokesperson of another junior governing party Most-Híd, adding that the party had held this opinion from the very beginning.

Opposition Freedom and Solidarity party spokesman Robert Buček said that the party would support the reform even as an ordinary law. If Smer-SD does not support its own minister's bill, she should resign, said the spokesperson of another opposition, Ordinary People party Matúš Bystriansky. Another opposition We Are Family party will not comment on stratification until the final version appears. PM Peter Pellegrini stated that he would not comment on situation for now.

The health minister is due to submit the project to the Cabinet session on August 21. If it is eventually approved, it will take effect as of January 1, 2024. In the meantime, current hospitals should be transformed into new types.

Mojmir Prochazka, Photo: TASR

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