Yesterday ASR (Romanian Hospitals Association) reacted against the project to modify the law on hospitals. In yesterday's press conference ASR representatives said the new law had been made against one man only, doctor Sorin Oprescu, and this is why it should be called "the law against Oprescu" and the authors were responsible for it. Bucharest hospital dorectors attending the conference pointed to all the flaws in the above-mentioned law project: ex directors, also "leaders of opinion" to be replaced by "puppet-managers" the ministry is to name, so that the new comers would agree to the privatization of all hospitals, the destruction of elite medical education by turning clinic directors into administrators. ASR representatives claim that in 2002 a reform similar to the one Romania is testing today cost Great Britain some million pounds. The new projected law on hospitals, published on the internet page of the Health Ministry and subject to public debate, has it that that a hospital director is to have managerial activity only, but not medical one. In 6 months' time since the law is in use hospital directors have to choose either one or the other. (...) PSD threatens to come with parliamentary motion against Nicolaescu's reform PSD (the Social-Democrat Party) criticized the set of laws elaborated by the Health Ministry and meant to reform the sanitary system. PSD even threatens to come with parliamentary motion against it, in case the Executive takes responsibility for the laws. Senator Sorin Oprescu, directorsof the University Emergency Hospital in Bucharest and of the Elias Hospital as well, says the ideas of minister Nicolaescu and his team are but "attempts to muffle their inability to administer the sanitary system and provide substance to the reform." (...) The PSD senator also claims that present Executive representatives lack ideas as "most of the laws the Health Ministry proposes are identical to the present ones." (...)

Magda SEVERIN, Valentina DELEANU