Promised regional hospitals since 2005 still remain in planning stages in Romania

According to sources, Romanian Health Minister Alexandru Rafila has vowed to establish three regional hospitals by the end of 2027. Since 2005, each administration has promised to develop these hospitals.

As per Alexandru Rafilu, planning for two hospitals in Cluj and Iași has already begun. The drawings should be completed by the middle of 2023, and construction can then commence.

Rafilu added that the building will commence once the design and planning phases are completed. "Because the blueprints will not be completed until next year, work cannot begin this year," he explained. When Romania's two biggest political parties, the PNL and PSD, formed a partnership in November 2021, they promised to build a large number of regional hospitals across the country.

 The number of hospitals, on the other hand, has fluctuated over time. An early estimate put the number of these institutions at seven or eight. In December of the previous year, four would be enough, according to PSD leader Marcel Ciolacu. Rafila, a PSD member, recently revealed that he was a patient in three different hospitals.

Since 2005, every administration has aimed for a regional hospital. The Tăriceanu government will construct the country's first eight regional hospitals. The governments of Boc, Ponta, and Cioloş made no excuses. There have been no bricks laid, and no project has gone beyond the design stage.

The PSD government cut the number of hospitals in Iaşi, Craiova, and Cluj-Napoca to three each in 2016. The current coalition, which includes PSD, has approved the plan.

Even though Romania was eligible for one billion euros in EU funds for these projects, no regional hospitals have been built since 2005. According to Europa Libera, 50 percent of the money set up for spending by the end of 2021 has been plundered.