The use of the Recovery Fund’s resources for the upgrading of the country’s public hospitals and especially the interventions implemented in the health structures of the Prefecture of Kastoria was mentioned by the Minister of Health late this afternoon, Adonis Georgiadis, during the inauguration ceremony of the renovated KY Argos Orestiko and the reconfiguration of the Emergency Department (ER) of the hospital of Kastoria.
The Minister described the Recovery and Resilience Fund as a “great boon for the country”, noting that the Ministry of Health had managed some two billion euros for projects to modernise the infrastructure of the National Health System. He said “I am pleased to say that the Ministry of Health has achieved 100% absorption of the available funds,” attributing the success to the systematic effort of the ministry’s services and cooperation with the services of the Ministry of Health.
He revealed that at the initial stage the project of the new ICU of the Kastoria hospital was in danger of being withdrawn from the project due to problems in licensing. He said, “immediate legislative intervention and coordinated actions were required to overcome the obstacles and ensure its implementation.”
Mr. Georgiades said that the new design of the ICUs is based on international standards and experience of leading hospitals abroad, aiming to provide faster service to patients and improve the quality of services provided.
“The ICU is the heart of a hospital. It is a citizen’s first contact with the NHS and the place through which most patients pass. We are not just inaugurating another building, but a critical pillar for the functioning of the hospital,” he stressed.
Referring to the staffing of the hospital, he said that more doctors, nurses and other staff are serving than in previous years, while noting that the possibility of filling needs through contracts where required remains open.
He made a special reference to the evaluation data of the services of the Kastoria hospital by the patients themselves, through the electronic evaluation system implemented by the Ministry of Health. According to the record, the hospital records high performance in the satisfaction of the hospitalized patients, while on the issue of waiting time in the ICU, he said that “it amounts to 2 hours and 33 minutes”, a performance he described as “extremely good compared to international standards, where the limit of four hours is considered acceptable”.
He concluded his speech by rejecting the dilemma between investing in infrastructure and strengthening human resources, arguing that the two axes are interrelated and noting that “good infrastructure cannot function without doctors and nurses, but neither can staff provide high quality services without modern facilities and equipment”.
Earlier, inaugurating the building upgrade of the Argos Orestiko Kastoria Health Care Centre, amounting to 1,462 million euros. He stressed that the projects being implemented in the NHS constitute the biggest upgrade of public health infrastructure in recent decades, giving “new life and perspective to the country’s hospitals. We are radically changing the image of the country’s 160 CCs and 93 hospitals,” Georgiades said.
Completing his tour in Kastoria, the Minister of Health did not fail to visit the Dementia Day Centre for Total Care. This is one of the 7 structures selected to operate in the regions of the country under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.
Present at the inauguration of the health structures of the Prefecture of Kastoria were MP Maria Antoniou, the regional governor Giorgos Amanatidis, the mayor of Argos Orestiko, Panos Keppapsoglou, and the commander of the 3rd YPE.
