Romanian Hospitals To Be Managed By Local Authorities As Of 2010

The Government adopted Sunday the Strategy on decentralization in the health system. By July 1, four more laws regarding the field are to be developed. These include the Law of decentralization in the health system, the Law of public health, a Government Decision to create the Public Health Institute and another Decision to create the National Forensic Medicine Institute.

The law of decentralization in the health system will include the transfer of the Public Health Office to the management of county councils and renamed to the Medical Assistance Office. It will coordinate all medical assistance activities in the county, represent the local authority in the hospital’s administration council, allocate resources locally and at a county level, authorize medical units’ income and expenses budgets, as well as the investment plan and capital expenses and will authorize the purchase of high-tech equipment.

After decentralization, health offices will be financed by the National Health Insurance Fund, from local budgets and from the state budget through the budget of the Health Ministry, in the case of national health programs, purchases of high-tech equipment, emergency units and research activities. The local authority will finance day-to-day maintenance, utilities, upgrades and lower-tech equipment purchases.

County hospitals will pass under the management of county councils, municipal hospitals will be managed by municipal councils, and town and communal hospitals will be administered by local councils. The Ministry will manage national research institutes, clinical institutes, regional hospitals and certain national interest hospitals, which carry out high-performance medical operations.

County health offices will be transferred under the authority of county councils, with the name Medical Assistance Offices, except for certain departments which will remain under the management of the Ministry. The duties of these departments will include epidemiologic supervision and the control of public health issues, especially infectious and non-infectious diseases, national risk evaluation and coordinating emergency medical assistance.

The Law of public health will create administration councils in hospitals, which will generally be composed of three members: a Ministry official, a local authority official and a representative of the health insurance houses.

In the case of clinic hospitals or those which have clinics, the council will include a representative of medical and pharmaceutical universities or faculties.

As part of decentralization, the National Public Health Institute will be created, thus reorganizing the existing six public health institutes and two public health centers, which will become its branches.

Another Government Decision will create the National Forensic Medicine Institute, which will comprise the National “Mina Minovici” Forensic Medicine Institute and the five such institutes in the country, and will coordinate all forensic medicine departments in county hospitals throughout Romania.

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