The President of the Committee, DISY MP, Savia Orfanidou, gave an assurance of support for the support of the Parliamentary Committee on Health in the efforts to upgrade and solve problems of the Limassol General Hospital and the German Medical Institute, in the context of a visit by members of the Committee, to the two hospitals, on Thursday morning.
In her statements after the meeting at the Limassol General Hospital, Savia Orphanidou said that the most important thing is "to contribute positively and constructively, in order to upgrade services to save lives, to protect the greatest good, that of health".
As he said, the Committee was informed about the problems faced by the public hospital of Limassol, underlining that "the procedures for specific four specialties needed by the Limassol General Hospital need to finally proceed".
"We are strong that the procedures must be accelerated to complete the development projects after so many years," he added and indicated that the Committee will be at the Limassol General Hospital again, to inspect their completion, which according to OKYPY, is expected around the end of 2027.
At the same time, the Chairman of the Health Committee appealed for the upgrading of the Hematology Clinic of the Limassol General Hospital and its strengthening with further doctors, paramedical and nursing staff, but for the development of oncology programs.
"The Limassol General Hospital may at some stage offer both autologous and allogeneic bone marrow transplants, which is why we want our state hospitals and especially the services offered in the field of oncology, to be upgraded so that they can be compared with other hospitals and clinics in the private sector," he added.
Saying that great efforts are being made to upgrade the services of the Limassol General Hospital and thanking all the staff, he said that "all this must be completed in time, so that we can protect our patient and offer him what he needs", reminding that the Limassol General Hospital also serves, to some extent, the needs of the Paphos District.
Addressing the leadership of OKYPY, she said that, as the Health Committee, "we expect you to proceed with all the measures, to immediately proceed with procedures and immediately to resolve these problems, which certainly exist elsewhere, but we are here to contribute positively".
For his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of OKYPY, Marinos Kallis, thanked the Health Committee for the long-term support, as he said, stressing that the Organization is aware of the problems and "we have timely put solutions in place, with schedules, which we are committed to keep for the specialties and to finish the work here at the hospital".
He added, moreover, that "in the last three years, OKYPY has been spending a lot of money on infrastructure and equipment, exceeding 250 million euros", while stressing that "we have completed the Recovery Plan on time and we are moving forward with the other projects, with which we will be finished by 2027".
This was followed by a visit to the German Medical Institute, where the members of the Parliament's Health Committee were informed about the services offered and issues on which the Committee can contribute to their resolution.
In a statement to KYPE, Savia Orfanidou said that, during the visit "we saw the excellent facilities and were informed about the services they offer to patients, not only in Cyprus, but also from all over the world".
"The facilities are modern and this upgrades the quality of the services offered to patients, but at the same time we have also been informed about the advanced digital technological programs they use to make a better diagnosis and serve the recovery of patients in the best way," he added.
He assured the CEO of GMI, Professor Nikolaos Zampoglou that "as a Health Committee we want to contribute positively and constructively to everything related to the upgrading of the field of oncology". At the same time, he added, "we are also waiting for the green light to be given for the permission requested by the German Institute of Health, to finally operate, for the first time in Cyprus, after the legislation we have passed, as a Center for allogeneic bone marrow transplants".
Congratulating Professor Zampoglou and all the medical, paramedical and nursing staff "for the excellent work they do", Ms. Orfanidou said that the Health Committee seeks that, through the contribution of the legislative power and the cooperation of the private and public sector, "we can upgrade our services, to be able to serve the Cypriot patient even better".
Thanking the Health Committee of the Parliament, Professor Zampoglou expressed his satisfaction for "the understanding they have shown, not only in the development of our Center, but also in the problems that torment us and some of which are very essential and solutions must be found quickly".
The Parliament shows that it has the good will to play the role it has undertaken, he continued and indicated that "but the government agent is also needed, which I want to believe will also show understanding".
In response to a relevant question, he said that the main problem faced by GMI lies in the fact that "while they say that Limassol flies, Limassol does not fly, but prices in Limassol fly". "It is very difficult, at the moment, to meet the demands of our employees, when at the same time our services at the HIO are constantly being downgraded and this thing is difficult for us," he said and noted that "good will is needed from everyone to find solutions."
Professor Zampoglou also stated that any upgrades to health services "must be human-centered" and that "the Parliament has taken a serious step by establishing the institution of the Patients' Ombudsman and this is a great convenience for both patients and us".
CNA
