Debts from EOPPY (National Organization for the Provision of Health Services) as well as the delay of the Health Ministry’s regular funding, have put the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center under threat of a financial collapse.
According to non-official information issued by the O.C.S.C.’s management board to the doctors’ representatives, the hospital which specializes in cardiovascular surgery and in diagnostic and interventional cardiology is about to face liquidity problems.
The payment of employees’ salaries as well as the repayment of the hospital’s financial obligations were scheduled for July 11 and were normally carried out with no delays. However, the bad news from EOPPY and the deficit in its funding, raised concern among the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center’s management board.
In particular, the payroll for the 850 employees reached 34 million euros per year, while the regular grant from the Health Ministry increased steadily every year. For example, in 2009 the grant was 7 million euros, while today it has reached 12 million euros.
EOPPY’s debts toward the hospital is around 36 million euros and concerns medical expenses of patients insured in EOPPY only for the last year. As mentioned above, O.C.S.C. receives an annual funding by the Ministry of Health which is now “stuck” in the State’s General Accounting Office, as the ministry’s sources revealed.
The President of the hospital, Ioannis Lekakis, appeared pessimistic about the hospital’s proper functioning if the debts are not repaid. The Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center has only received some thousands of euros instead of the 12 million euros it expected to receive, while it attributed part of the problem to the fact of the recent change of leadership in the Ministry of Health.
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