The Minister of Health promises thousands of new hospital hires starting in 2027

The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rogobete, stated live on Digi24 that he has asked healthcare units to submit their staffing requirements so that new hires can be approved as early as the first part of 2027. The official noted that the expansion and modernisation of hospitals must be matched by an increase in the number of doctors and nurses.

In an exclusive interview with Digi24, the minister spoke about the obstacles within the medical staff recruitment system and about the measures being prepared to address the personnel shortage in hospitals.

Legislative amendment for posts vacated through retirement

Rogobete explained that, following legislative amendments adopted this summer, when a doctor retires, the vacated post can be put out to competitive recruitment directly, without requiring any additional approval.

"When I was in Parliament this summer, we amended that ordinance and stipulated that — because there was this bureaucratic issue — when a doctor retired, even if the post was budgeted, it could not be put out to competitive recruitment. Now, this can be done without anyone's approval," said Alexandru Rogobete.

Thousands of posts could be unlocked in 2027

When asked whether he was considering a full exemption of the healthcare system from recruitment restrictions, the minister said he did not wish to announce such a decision just yet, but had already asked hospitals to submit their human resource requirements.

"I don't want to say now whether we will fully exempt the healthcare sector or not, but I have already asked hospitals to send me their human resource requirements so that, next year, from the beginning of the year, we can unlock several thousand additional posts and thereby ease as much pressure as possible on healthcare units," said Rogobete.

Once the requests received from hospitals have been collated, the minister intends to seek the necessary approvals through a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and other members of the Government. Rogobete hopes that the staffing shortage can be resolved in the first part of next year.

"A memorandum needs to be submitted to the Prime Minister. The Finance Minister will, of course, approve the budgeting. It won't take very long. I would like us to be able to resolve these issues in the first part of the year," said Rogobete.

Modernised infrastructure requires additional staff

The minister emphasised that the expansion of medical infrastructure and the equipping of hospitals with new technology must be accompanied by staff recruitment, so that healthcare units can operate at full capacity.

"I place great emphasis on human resources because the infrastructure no longer looks as it did five years ago. We have ever more equipment, many hospitals have expanded their capacity, and many hospitals can treat increasingly complex patients and cases — but this means they also need a proportionally larger workforce," said Rogobete.