Filenews 29 December 2025 - by Dora Christodoulou
After years of effort, suffering and intense efforts, the long-awaited autonomy of public hospitals has passed the time it leaves Parliament. In Paphos, the development was duly celebrated, since essentially the process primarily concerned its own hospital with the aim of becoming independent from Limassol, where it belonged administratively all these years.
However, months after the political decision, the practical autonomy of the Paphos hospital from Limassol still remains on paper. The issue has already been raised the day after Christmas to the new Minister of Health, during his surprise visit to the Paphos Hospital to see the prevailing situation. Speaking to "F", MP Chrysanthos Savvidis, who brought the issue to Parliament, stressed that Neophytos Charalambides was asked to intervene with OKYPY to speed up the procedures for announcing the position of Executive Director of the Hospital, a development that is the key to making autonomy a reality.
The recruitment of an Executive Director and the consequent autonomy in practice, he pointed out, will mean that Paphos will now be represented as an autonomous entity in the Council of OKYPY, which is not done today, but also that it will have its own budget for public health issues, something that is also not done so far, but is part of the jurisdiction of Limassol.
We hope, said Mr. Savvidis, that the new minister will take a warm view of the issue of the practical implementation of the decision for the autonomy of hospitals.
