Health Minister Vili Beros said on Friday that he would make radical changes in the health system that should, in addition to the existing level of healthcare, ensure financial sustainability of the system.

The changes will not affect the quality of healthcare, but they must make the health system financially sustainable, Beros said after a government session at which 1.34 billion kuna (€177 million) was allocated to hospitals for the repayment of part of the debt to drug wholesalers.

Beros warned that the hospital debt continued to grow every month, so the current state was not sustainable. That is why the Ministry of Health has already taken some steps to make the system financially stable, he said.

Health institutions need financial responsibility in business and should measure treatment outcomes, the minister said.

Beros said that it was not necessary for a hospital director to be a medical professional.

Directors for medicine and for economy

One of my suggestions is to have two directors — one for medicine and one for the economy, but that requires making changes to the law, he added.

Talks are being held to include representatives of the Finance Ministry in governing boards of healthcare institutions in order to strengthen the financial control in hospitals.

Beros said that the situation in Zagreb’s Dubrava Clinical Hospital, where the director and the governing board had recently been replaced, was getting better.

This morning, an information centre for patients positive for coronavirus has been established since they are not allowed to receive visitors.

It is important to inform their families. The information centre has started working today, it is open from 7.30 a.m. to 4.30 p.m., and it will give information on patients being treated there, the minister said.

As for the danger that the commemorative walk in Vukovar on November 18 could become a new infection hotspot, Beros said that there was no reason for bigger concern if the gathering is held with adherence to the epidemiological plan.