University Hospitals Should Be Run By Physicians – Romanian Health Minister

“Since the beginning of my term, I have been saying I want to bring professionals back into the system. We now have the legal framework. University hospitals must be run by physicians and the physician-managers can carry out their practice, so they don’t lose their touch” the health minister said.

Professor Gheorghe Iana, the manager of the Bucharest University Emergency Hospital said it is normal for a hospital’s manager to be a physician or university teacher and to be allowed to carry out his profession.

Romanian government on Thursday decided to impose new criteria in appointing hospital managers, in a move to improve medical assistance services and eliminate “faulty management” of sanitary units, according to an emergency ordinance.

Under the act, hospital managers must have a university degree in one of the medical, economic, law or management sectors. In addition, hospital managers must have taken training courses of management or sanitary management recognized by the Health Ministry.

As for teaching hospitals, the managers must be a university teacher or chief physician and graduate of training courses in management or sanitary management recognized by the Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry is to appoint by order within the next three days several commissions to check if the acting hospital managers and interim managers observe the mentioned criteria and to present the ministry with a report.

The measures were taken following a series of difficulties in the system, triggered by “faulty management at a significant number of hospitals” which seriously affected the quality of medical services granted to the population, the act noted.