National infrastructure investment agency to manage hospitals of major local impact

The National Health Infrastructure Investment Agency will manage and operate hospitals that have a major local impact and operate under the authority of the Ministry of Health, Health Minister Ioana Mihaila said on Thursday.

"The health component of Romania's National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) has three major reform packages. The first is the reform of public funds management in the health insurance system and regards payment by result and quality, when it comes to healthcare services, and also the creation of a framework that incentivise reversing the pyramid of healthcare services, increasing the share of outpatient and primary care services, more precisely care provided by family physicians, as well as community health care. The second major line of reform is to increase the administrative capacity of the Ministry of Health in order to manage health infrastructure projects, and here we are specifically talking about the creation of this Health Infrastructure Investment Agency. The reason why we proposed this line of reform in PNRR is precisely this need, which we have all identified, in the creation of new hospitals, in the construction of new hospitals. The agency will manage and operate hospitals that have a major local impact and that operate under the authority of the Ministry of Health," Mihaila told a news conference.

She mentioned that the hospitals operating under the authority of local administrations may request technical assistance from the agency for carrying out their own investment projects, with this request being optional, not mandatory.

According to the minister, the agency will also be tasked with drawing up, together with other ministries, regulations regarding the quality of the built environment in healthcare, particularly hospital infrastructure.