A number of hospitals with huge debts might be closed if the Cabinet does not provide financial aid. Major hospitals, such as Pirogov emergency hospital, St. Ekaterina, Alexandrovska and the university hospitals in Pleven, Plovdiv and Varna, have debts totalling 110 million leva for this year. This week, the Cabinet will decide whether to provide an additional 145 million leva from Budget 2006 to cover part of the hospitals' debts.
The Health Ministry constantly receives payment requests, said Health Minister Radoslav Gaidarski. Most hospitals owe money to pharmaceutical companies for medicines and equipment. The ministry is to request financial plans from all hospitals, to help them to find a way to deal with the accumulated debts. One possible measure is a decrease in the number of hospital beds. Pirogov has the capacity to house 1000 patients but about 400 beds are unused. At the same time, doctors and nurses are paid according to the number of beds in the hospital. Gaidarski said that patient visits to major hospitals would not be limited in the case of major procedures being involved. Smaller hospitals will take care of less serious cases, Sega newspaper reported.