Christmas has come early for hospital chiefs across Portugal as the Minister of Health, Paulo Macedo announced that he is transferring nearly half a billion euros to those hospitals that have run up huge debts, many of which are technically insolvent as businesses, despite functioning as hospitals.
The money, €455.2 million, will be divided between the 18 worst performing hospitals in the country, effectively penalising those that are run efficiently and within budget.
These emergency cash transfusions will clear debts built up to September this year and will pretty much wipe the slate clean for hospital administrators that soon will be able again to look suppliers in the eye.
The hospitals will have to ‘keep their accounts in order and increase revenue,’ otherwise the extra money will be clawed back, although the Ministry does not make it clear how this might be achieved.
Only part of the money, some €155.2 million will reach the hospitals by the end of this year. The remaining €300 million will be handed out in 2015.
The Algarve hospital’s management will start the new year with no debt as the receipt of its hand out will remove it from the "chronic technical bankruptcy" list.
The injection of €24.6 million will come in 2015 and according to the Algarve management led by Dr Pedro Nunes, this capital increase is the "only way to ensure the maintenance and development of care provided to the resident and non-resident population who come to the Algarve’s hospitals'.
For the Health Minister Paulo Macedo, it all heralds a radical change for the hospitals, one which will allow their managements to pay off suppleirs and order more supplies.
Marta Temido, president of the Portuguese Association of Hospital Directors, commented that the increase will remove from the list some hospitals that are technically bankrupt and also pay off arrears.
With an election coming up next year, these welcome and magnanimous gestures by ministers, made with taxpayers' money, should become incresingly frequent, to the discomfort of the Minister of Finance who needs to balance the books this year; next year she may not be so worried as a change of government is increasingly likely.
