Path to hospital merger opened in Prahova

The Prahova County Council unanimously approved two projects through which the Ploieşti Railway General Hospital and the Ploieşti Pediatric Hospital will come under the jurisdiction of the county administration, marking the first concrete step towards administrative merger of healthcare units in Romania. The announcement was welcomed by the Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, who declared that Prahova is "the first county to start the administrative merger of hospitals”, after months of calls for the reorganization of the system.

• Administrative transfers approved unanimously

The decisions adopted by the Prahova County Council concern: the takeover of the Ploieşti Railway General Hospital from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure; the transfer of the management of the Ploieşti Pediatric Hospital from the Ploieşti Local Council to the Prahova County Council. According to the minister, these measures represent a first step towards a broader reorganization of the healthcare network, based on efficiency and regional coordination.

• Rogobete: "Hospitals are no longer sustainable separately"

During the meeting, the minister stressed the need for a paradigm shift: hospitals must be integrated into a regional master plan; the current fragmented model is no longer sustainable; the reorganization should bring medical services closer to the patient. "The time when everyone has their own toy is over," the official said, advocating for stricter coordination at the county or regional level.

Regarding the CF Hospital, the minister assured that the transfer is exclusively administrative: the structure, departments and staff remain unchanged; there will be no relocations or staff reductions; the unit will operate under the same conditions, but under a different credit authorizing officer. These provisions are included in an emergency ordinance developed jointly by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Health.

The situation of the Ploieşti Pediatric Hospital is more complex: the building in which it operates has a seismic risk; the approved transfer is, for now, an administrative one; the assets will be transferred later, after the completion of the projects financed by the PNRR. The President of the Prahova County Council, Virgiliu Nanu, stated that three scenarios are being analyzed for the relocation of medical activity to a safe space.

• A precedent for the reorganization of the healthcare system

The approach in Prahova could become a model for other counties, in the context in which the central authorities promote the idea of administrative consolidation of hospitals. The initiative comes against the backdrop of pressures related to: underfinancing of the healthcare system; lack of medical personnel; administrative fragmentation of units.