Rogobete, criticism over hospital reductions based on ICU occupancy rates

Former Health Minister Alexandru Rogobete criticised on Thursday, 30 July, during "Interviurile Adevărul", the idea of reducing the number of hospitals based on occupancy rates. The Social Democrat warned that such a measure could undermine the healthcare system's capacity to respond in emergency situations, and launched a fresh attack on Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, accusing him of seeking to reduce the budget deficit without considering the consequences for essential sectors.

Hospitals with low demand should be transformed, not closed

According to Rogobete, the right solution is not to shut down hospitals with fewer patients, but to convert them into palliative care centres, chronic illness units, medical rehabilitation centres, or specialist outpatient clinics.

"The solution is not to close hospitals with lower demand, but to transform them into palliative care centres, chronic illness facilities, and rehabilitation units, and to develop specialist outpatient services, so that they continue to provide care within the limits of demand. These are the real reform measures the healthcare system needs," the former minister stated.

ICU occupancy rates exceed international recommendations

Rogobete pointed out that using occupancy rates as the primary efficiency indicator is misguided, particularly for intensive care units in emergency hospitals.

"The Prime Minister is making another serious error when he talks about occupancy rates. I would like to remind him that there are emergency hospitals in this country where the ICU occupancy rate exceeds 90%. That is enormous! International recommendations state that an emergency hospital, and specifically its ICU wards, should operate at an occupancy rate of 70–75%. Why? Because we are in a difficult geopolitical context," he said.

The former minister cited a crisis scenario as an example: "In the past week, we have seen a drone enter our airspace every single day. God forbid one were to fall on a residential block. God forbid! At that moment, you have multiple casualties. Where do you take those patients if all hospitals have very high occupancy rates and there are no intensive care beds available?"

"Some of Bolojan's reforms are right"

Despite his frequent criticism of the Prime Minister, Rogobete acknowledged that some of the measures he is promoting are justified, including the introduction of performance criteria in the healthcare system. However, he argued that these should not be tied to reductions in staff pay.

"It is not right for a surgeon who operates on 40 patients a month to be paid the same as one who operates on four a year. But the solution is not to cut their earnings — it is to apply performance criteria, so that those who work more are paid more," the former minister said, noting that the current draft of the Pay Act does not address this need.

Rogobete calls for Bolojan's resignation

Amid mounting tensions between the PSD and the Prime Minister over healthcare reform and the new Pay Act, Rogobete declared that Ilie Bolojan should resign, accusing him of refusing to engage in dialogue and disregarding the views of those affected by his decisions.

"I think he should set Romania free, in every sense of the word. [...] He does not engage in dialogue, he does not listen — only his opinion matters, only his is ever right; anyone who opposes him is an enemy, anyone who does not listen to him is anti-reform. [...] He used to tell me that if doctors and patients weren't cursing me, it meant I had done something wrong and hadn't pushed the reform hard enough," Rogobete said.

He added: "With this outlook, this absence of dialogue, this cold indifference towards certain sectors, and his failure to properly correlate figures, you simply cannot build anything with a person who has a single objective — reducing the deficit. Yes, the deficit matters, I am well aware of that; I have served in government, I am in politics, I have worked in public administration — but you cannot kill people in order to reduce the deficit."