Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday visited the emergency department of the Aghia Sophia Childrens’ Hospital, where restoration works costing 1.2 million euros are taking place in the context of a broader programme for improving public health infrastructure.
“I believe that anyone who visits these new departments, as well as the rest of the hospital’s floors and infrastructure, will now find that this hospital lacks nothing compared to even the most modern hospitals. A hospital that treats our young friends with dignity, above all, and provides medical services of very high quality,” Mitsotakis underlined.
He also noted that “The National Health System is changing,” adding: “Aghia Sophia hospital is an example of how the National Health System can collaborate with the private sector in order to be able to provide better services”.
The prime minister was given a tour of the sections of the ER department that have already been renovated and delivered, which cover an area of 1,080 square meters, and informed about the upgraded services they provide, by hospital director Manolis Papasavvas. He then also visited a section of the emergency department, with an area of 600 square meters, in which renovation works are still underway, with interventions to the building and equipment. The works are expected to be completed next month.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and Deputy Health Minister Marios Themistokleous.
In a meeting held at the hospital’s headquarters, the prime minister said: “I once again visited Aghia Sophia pediatric hospital, as the minister said, the largest pediatric hospital in the country, to oversee the very important projects being carried out through the Recovery Fund in terms of the complete reconstruction of hospital emergency departments.” He noted that Greece’s National Health System is changing and that the government, “without hiding the many problems we inherited,” has a three-year strategic plan that allows very important infrastructure improvements, such as those launched by the Recovery Fund, and make the most of private donations.
“I would say that Aghia Sophia hospital is an example of how the National Health System can work with the private sector to be able to provide better services. I also want to remind you that the most modern, newest, large pediatric hospital being built in the country, in Thessaloniki, will hopefully be ready in 2027. This is also the result of private sponsorship, as is the new centre of mental health, which will soon be operating here at the Agia Sophia hospital,” he said.
Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis, on his part, thanked the prime minister for visiting “to see for himself the progress of the Recovery Fund projects we are carrying out in this hospital, one of the largest Recovery Fund projects in Greece”.
“I believe that the Greek people now see that through the Recovery Fund the hospitals are really changing, the NHS is changing. We are dealing with staff shortage problems as much as we can and with the new hirings that have been approved we will be much stronger in 2025 as well,” Georgiadis concluded.