Updates

To increase efficiency in the use of funds and to improve access to services of higher quality, since October 2025 all hospitals have been encouraged to associate with each other, with medical education institutions, as well as with other accredited medical institutions, regardless of geographical location, to establish medical consortia with legal personality. The purpose is to allow them to pool resources to jointly carry out medical activities, perform scientific research, invest in infrastructure, and to procure medicines, sanitary materials and medical devices. This facility is stated by Law no. 163/2025 that modifies Law 95/2006 on healthcare reform. The Law no. 163/2025 also introduces the “hospitals of strategic importance”, namely those hospitals that have the necessary infrastructure and capacity (ICUs, operating theatres, trained specialists, etc.) to respond to crisis situations that require emergency care for a large number of patients at the same time, for example, causalities after a mass accident or a panic. Currently, the Ministry of Health is working on a new hospital classification system, simpler than the existing one, which will differentiate hospitals by the type of services provided.