Hospitals in dire financial straits

RIGA - Thirteen heads of regional hospitals have sent an open letter to Latvia’s highest officials, requesting immediate improvements to the situation in health care and allocation of adequate funds to hospitals, reports LETA. The letter has been signed by the heads of Liepaja, Jelgava, Ziemelkurzeme, Jekabpils, Daugavpils, Vidzeme, Kuldiga, Tukums, Jurmala, Ogre Region, Dobele, Balvi and Gulbene hospitals.

The letter states that the situation in health care is critical and adequate funds are required to pay for patients’ treatment in all hospitals, and that health care fees must be raised to the level of current market prices.

The letter reiterates that the government has promised in a declaration to allocate 4.5 percent of gross domestic product to health care. However, due to limited funds, this has not happened for many years now.