The administration of the Akmola region stated that they have instructed the Akim of Stepnogorsk to take the multidisciplinary city hospital, which owes creditors 704 million tenge, under special control.
According to MIА “Kazinform”, the head of the regional health department, Nurlan Akhilbekov, said that the institution has been included in the national project for modernising rural healthcare as an inter-regional hospital. However, despite all the efforts of medical staff and officials, its debts continue to grow.
“As of today, the overdue accounts payable is 704 million tenge. Last year, about 300 million tenge was allocated to pay off the tax debt from previous years, which was settled, but the accounts payable continues to grow despite our efforts. This is because there are many areas that are not being used,” noted Akhilbekov.
It has become known that, to allow the medical institution to pay for heating and utilities on its own, a branch of a medical college was even opened on the hospital grounds.
“Optimisation is needed, not through staff reductions, but particularly regarding the workload of medical personnel. There, doctors were receiving 2 to 2.5 times the standard salary. Many were receiving a lot. I have nothing against it; doctors should earn well, but there must be justification for what they are paid. The accounts payable is growing, and that must be acknowledged,” explained the official.
Officials assure that they are taking all possible measures to reduce the hospital’s debt. One of the options they are considering is a change in management.
At the same time, the hospital’s medical staff are complaining about the quality of the ongoing renovation work. According to them, the wall finishes in the operating unit cannot be cleaned properly, the doorways do not meet standards, there is an insufficient number of sinks, and the pipes have not been replaced with new ones.
In turn, the Deputy Akim of the Akmola region, Altynai Amrenova, demanded an inspection of the progress of the renovation work.
“The Akim of Stepnogorsk has already been tasked with taking the Stepnogorsk hospital under special control. After all, if they do not resolve the issue at their level, tomorrow it will affect the quality of medical services provided to the population,” stated Amrenova.
For context, in August, the head of the Astana health department, Aliya Rustemova, stated that the accounts payable of the city’s hospitals amounts to 14.7 billion tenge.
She noted that the budget for medical organisations financed through the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund (CMIF) for the current year was 120.4 billion tenge, which is 2.5% more than last year.
In September, the prosecutor’s office of the Kurchum district in the East Kazakhstan region, during an analysis of compliance with legislation in the field of public procurement, identified violations by the administration of the district hospital, which had not paid off a debt of 134 million tenge owed to 27 entrepreneurs.