PM heralds health hirings, savings
Some 4,500 medical staff will be hired, with 700 of them being posted to islands and parts of the country where there are a lack of doctors and nurses, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pledged Thursday.
On a visit to the Health Ministry, Tsipras also said that the government plans to make improvements to intensive-care units and the ambulance service. His visit came as the coalition’s decision to scrap the 5-euro fee for visitors to public hospitals was published in the Government Gazette.
Tsipras said that savings in the health sector would come from combating graft. The government’s plans include integrating the sector’s electronic systems. He suggested that this could lead to Greece saving as much as 10 percent of its healthcare budget.
