The dream of Regional Emergency Hospitals seems further and further from reality, despite assurances from the authorities. An official response sent by the National Agency for Health Infrastructure Development (ANDIS) to the “Truth” request reveals a worrying picture of billions of lei investments. The document confirms administrative blockages, disputed bidding procedures and an extremely slow pace of execution, even on sites considered “active”.
Although it is often presented as the “flagship” of health investments, the site of the Craiova Regional Hospital is experiencing major delays. Data provided by ANDIS shows a huge discrepancy between elapsed time and actual work. The builder received the order to start work on April 4, 2025. Eight months later, in December, the physical stage of execution for the second stage (the construction itself) is only 4.64%.
With average monthly progress of less than one percent, meeting the December 2028 completion deadline is becoming nearly impossible. So far, the excavation has been completed and part of the foundation has been poured, but the bulk of the superstructure and installation work has not even begun. Work is currently underway to reinforce the basement columns, an early stage for a building that should be ready “turnkey” in three years.
The discrepancy between the triumphalist announcements of the officials and the real advance of the works is harshly taxed by Vasile Barbu, the president of the National Association for Patient Protection.
“In Craiova, which in a populist way announced that the works have started, know that there are no works that assure us that the hospital will be built, it will be completed earlier. So, basically, it is insignificant, if you will, insignificant progress in terms of the construction of the regional hospital”said Vasile Barbu for “Adevărul”.
Cluj: Abandoned construction site, guarding and conservation
The situation is even worse in Cluj, where the project is completely paralyzed. The first stage, that of land preparation, ended on March 31, 2025. Since then, nothing has been built on the site. ANDIS confirms that the tender procedure for the second stage, started in September, has reached the table of the National Council for the Resolution of Appeals.
In the absence of a designated builder and a signed contract, the authorities only take care of guarding the pit. The activity was reduced to the monitoring of cast walls and underground water, to prevent breaching of the banks or degradation of the works already executed. Despite the bureaucratic blockage, ANDIS insists that the works will be ready, just like in Craiova, by December 2028.
ANDIS recognizes the failure in Iași
In the case of the Iași Regional Hospital, the authorities have already capitulated to the initial schedule. ANDIS has officially confirmed that the completion date has been pushed back by a full year, from December 31, 2028 to December 31, 2029. The decision came as a result of “correlation with actual execution timelines”, an acknowledgment that the plans on paper have not kept up with the reality on the ground.
Although the execution contract was signed in October of this year, the project is only at the stage of site organization and document analysis. Practically, the actual construction of the hospital in Iasi starts with a major time handicap, and the new deadline pushes the completion dangerously close to the close of the European financial years.
Vasile Barbu: “The fault lies with the Ministry of Health”
The President of the Patients’ Association believes that the blame for this slow pace belongs mainly to the Ministry of Health. Barbu claims that the institution avoids sanctioning local managers or subordinates because of political alliances, preferring to ignore reality.
“The fault, of course, here lies mainly with the Ministry of Health, which does not carry out an effective control, because everything is political here and the minister does not have the courage to criticize, in practice, his own party members or, please, those from the alliance, and I always blame the local authority”Barbu explains.
The problems with which the new hospitals come
Beyond the missed deadlines, Vasile Barbu raises a serious structural problem that these investments will generate once completed. There is a major risk that the three regional hospitals, which total about 2,400 beds, will absorb the medical elite from the university centers, leaving the rest of the functional hospitals without top specialists.
“Our fear is also that these medical units will be widowed, some of which have now reached medical performance and deal with complex cases. (…) They will gather a medical elite at these hospitals, and the others will remain practically uncoordinated, at least. Without having at least some department heads there, let’s say, with experience”Barbu warns.
