«The goal is to achieve speed and transparency», emphasized Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, addressing hospital administrations across the country. Hospital administrations met with him today at a two-day conference organized by the Health Ministry at the National Gallery amphitheater, focusing on the operation of public health system hospitals. Initially referring to pharmaceutical expenditure control in hospitals, Mr. Georgiadis stated that drug payments are now made centrally through EKAPY, and as he emphasized, «this by no means suggests that expenditure control is taken out of your hands».
The minister characteristically said that the goal is to achieve speed and transparency and «the fact that payment authority has been removed from you doesn’t mean that responsibility for expenditure control has also been removed from you». He added that electronic prescribing will soon be implemented in hospitals as well and warned directors that one of their most important evaluation indicators will be expenditure control.
Adonis Georgiadis: Budget adherence shows we respect insured citizens’ money
«I don’t like to fire people easily, but whoever doesn’t do their job will leave, control will be strict and your responsibility is absolute for procurement and pharmaceutical expenditure», the Health Minister made clear.
Moreover, referring to doctors in public health system clinics, he warned that soon «we will know for each doctor individually, what they spend and how they spend it with the electronic tools we will have at our disposal».
The Health Minister also spoke about what isn’t currently invoiced, emphasizing that «your job is to put order in all these matters». As he said, ideally he would like uninvoiced expenses to be zero, although he emphasized they have been significantly reduced. «Directors who had many uninvoiced items are not with us today» he said and added that it’s a practice «that could get us into trouble with the EU».
The Health Minister told directors that 2024 was the first time in years that the Health Ministry didn’t request emergency funding from the Finance Ministry for hospital budgets.
«Budget adherence shows that we respect insured citizens’ money and I hope that in 2025 we will also manage not to request emergency funding», Adonis Georgiadis emphasized.
However, on the other hand, he made clear that the zeal to maintain the budget is something that won’t come at the expense of proper hospital operation. «Surgery and patients come first, we have a sacred mission, we’re not an accounting office, we’re a Health Ministry», he emphasized.
On the recovery fund
Referring to the Recovery Fund, he said projects are progressing satisfactorily with some exceptions he avoided naming, and explained to directors that if a project gets stuck in one hospital, there’s a risk of losing all projects for an entire health region from the Recovery Fund.
He characterized the Recovery Fund resources as a blessing because «with these we will build hospitals that will serve citizens for the next 30 years». As he characteristically said, it would be our shame not to utilize this money for hospital upgrades and added that «we owe modern hospitals to patients, call me early if you see for any reason that any of the projects has stalled». June 30, 2026 is a deadline that won’t be extended by the Recovery Fund, he warned directors, telling them «no failure will be forgiven».
The minister, referring to DRGs that essentially show directors the hospital’s picture and how it operates in real time, said that «these weren’t created to close hospitals but are a necessary tool for us to monitor and for you to monitor the health services provided to patients».
He also spoke about the new evaluation tool that patients have at their disposal. «It’s extremely important for you directors as well since it gives you the ability to recognize through these evaluations the real weaknesses of your hospital».
«Participation in evaluation today is around 20% and I want your help in this to increase it» also said Adonis Georgiadis, who added that this evaluation has already helped since «in all recent polls of the last month, the health problem in our country has dropped lower from the top positions where it was».
The Health Minister thanked directors who entered the competitive process for their positions, a difficult process as he said, while thanking them for their cooperation. «This job doesn’t have an eight-hour schedule. Just like me, so you too, I want you to have your phones constantly open» the Health Minister told them, also pointing out that if they make mistakes, he won’t cover for any of them.
“The public health system neither collapses nor dissolves”
Mr. Georgiadis also said that significant effort will be made to upgrade patient offices in hospitals, as today, as he admitted, there is weakness.
«We want the system to become patient-centered, the patient must and deserves to be the center. The public health system neither collapses nor dissolves, it has its problems but it also has its good moments and this year there were quite a few».
Addressing directors, he said that «because mass media tend to highlight failure, you yourselves should also highlight success. Because highlighting only failure undermines citizens’ trust in the system».
Referring to surgeries, he said that waiting times that were over four months have been reduced and afternoon surgeries have contributed to this, which he encourages directors to support since the goal must be achieved by June 30, 2026.
Referring to institutional changes, he spoke about the opportunity given to public health system doctors to have private practice alongside their work in public hospitals, as well as private practitioners who will be able to operate in the public health system under strict conditions. Finally, he called on hospital directors, especially in the regions, to approach private doctors to work within the framework of the opportunity given to them by law to work in the public health system.
