‘Agia Olga’ Hospital directors fired by minister over conditions in its psychiatric clinic

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The director and alternate director of the “Agia Olga” Hospital in Nea Ionia,a northern suburb of Athens, were fired on Monday by order of Health Minister Michalis Chryssochoidis following an on-site inspection of its psychiatric clinic by Deputy Health Minister Dimitris Vartzopoulos.

Vartzopoulos paid a visit to the psychiatric clinic of Agia Olga Hospital (officially, the General Hospital of Nea Ionia Konstantopoulio-Patission “Agia Olga”), following media reports by staff complaining of neglect in damaged facilities and overall conditions in the clinic, which its site says includes day services and 20 beds. 

“There are sights here that are offensive,” the deputy minister said during his visit. “The primary concern of every administration is to maintain conditions of hygiene and dignity in both operation rooms and laboratiories, but mostly in hospitalization areas and personal hygiene spaces. Which means that the current situation is disgraceful.”

• Following the dismissal of the hospital’s directors, work has begun to restore the clinic’s functionality and improve conditions for hospital staff and patients, the ministry said.

In a related statement, the health ministry said it has scheduled and included in funding packages of the Recovery Fund the complete refurbishmenet of all psychiatric clinics and all general hospitals of the country, which is worth 3.5 million euros. The renovation is expected to start in the near future and before 2023 ends, the ministry said. “A particular emphasis is placed on renovating and upgrading [hospitals in Greece] through allocation of significant funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Fund and NSRF. The total amount allocated to upgrading infrastructure exceeds 1 billion euros. For psychiatric clinics, the implementation of a program to upgrade them, totaling 3.5 million euros from the Recovery Fund, is already under way,” it noted in a statement.

“Beyond that, it said, and until the upgrades are completed, it has been emphatically requested of hospital administrations and heads of Health Regions that they deal immediately with any problem that arises in terms of the conditions of hygiene spaces or small damage in every hospital, with the Health Ministry covering funding.” This order was issued in the very first message Chryssochoidis sent to hospital directors and regional governors when he assumed his duties, it underlined.

Source: ANA – MPA

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