After the directors of the Asset Registration Offices, Prime Minister Edi Rama has demanded the resignation of all regional and municipal hospitals. During a meeting orchestrated in the Prime Ministry, Prime Minister Rama called the directors “those with the main moral responsibility for the mismanagement and dirtiness of the hospitals they direct”:
The level of management of our hospitals is unacceptable. The doctors have their responsibility but it is the duty of the management to motivate them.
Our hospitals may not have the infrastructure that we’re aiming for, but nothing justifies and overcomes the feeling of shame for the state that the hospitals are not examples of cleanliness and hygiene. This is the main thing for any public service environment.
Dirty hospital grounds, dirty hospital spaces. Cleanliness doesn’t need money, infrastructure, or plans. As regards the level of hygiene or the alertness of the personnel we are not 27 but 270 years behind. So I want you to understand that you have to resign.
According to the Prime Minister, removing the directors is not the solution of the problem of mismanagement but a beginning that would make the hospitals more autonomous.
Not all directors were singled out for Prime Minister Rama’s scorn; two of his clients received praise:
- Director of the Mother Theresa Hospital in Tirana, Enkel Joti, who was nominated in March 2017. The nomination of Joti, who has no experience in healthcare but was connected with one of the media companies in the Prime Minister’s orbit, was widely commented as a favor.
- Director of the Shefqet Ndroqi Sanatorium, Perlat Kapisyzi, who happened to be the husband of Deputy Minister of Healthcare Mira Rakacolli, present next to the Prime Minister when he made his declaration.
