June start for the new Attiko Hospital

Appointments of doctors and nurses in progress

By Penny Bouloutza - Kathimerini

Preparations for the opening of the Attiko Hospital in Haidari, western Attica, are going full speed ahead. The hospital is expected to go into operation by late June. Some services have already gone through trial runs and staff appointments are in the final stages.

Deputy Health Mister Ektoras Nasiokas told Kathimerini that the minister wants the Attiko to be a top-grade hospital. “It should start working as soon as possible, go into full operation within a reasonable time, and, of course, offer high-quality health services.” Nasiokas says the hospital is committed to starting its radiology departments (MRI, CAT scans and ultrasound) and outpatients clinics (internal medicine, neurology, pediatrics, ORL, pneumonology and orthopedics).

Around 40 doctors, 100-150 nurses and other staff are needed to get these services started, and the hospital has advertised for staff who would like to be transferred. So far, 100 doctors have applied. Care will be taken not to create shortages at the hospitals from which they are transferred. Transferred doctors will continue to belong to their original hospital, where they will be on duty at other times. In the early stages, no surgery will be performed at the Attiko.

The hospital is fully equipped, and the doctors will arrive on July 1 to conduct the departments’ final test runs. Another 500 positions for nursing and other staff will be announced, as will other seasonal and permanent positions.

In September, 5-10 clinics will be transferred from hospitals in central Athens, and others will be created. By late 2002 to early 2003, at least 50 percent of the hospital’s services should be functioning satisfactorily.

The committee that is setting up the clinics will contact the directors of clinics which could be transferred to the Attiko and try to secure their agreement for such an arrangement.

“We don’t expect to run up against any objections,” says Nasiokas, “given that transferring a clinic from a hospital in the center of Athens benefits everyone. The clinic will go into an ultramodern environment, and the hospital it came from will be able to develop another service. The ministry wants the Attiko to be an exceptional hospital, a flagship.”