With no clear resolution in the dispute between EOPYY doctors and the Ministry of Health on the horizon, the Ministry has announced that the EOPYY clinics will reopen in a month, during which time its policy holders can receive free healthcare from EOPYY-registered doctors, outpatient clinics and health centers.
During the month the EOPYY clinics will closed, they will be restructured as “urban health centers”. Policy-holders will not be able to arrange appointments via telephone, but they will be able to receive prescription medicine from EOPYY pharmacies. The disability certification centers will not be affected.
While the Ministry of Health insists that there will be no dismissals, it notes that there might be some departures, as doctors will have to chose between working in the public sector – like their colleagues in the national healthcare system ESY – or maintain a private clinic. The Minister plans to cover any gaps with contract and temporary work.
Meanwhile, the government gazette finally published the bill which turns EOPYY into a buyer of healthcare services, while all primary healthcare services are passed on to ESY and the regional healthcare authorities. When the bill comes into effect 8,500 doctors and clinic employees will be suspended immediately.
Since the bill had not yet been published in the gazette, the doctors claimed that it was typically not in effect and refused to hand over the clinic keys. The doctors at the clinic in Dafni claimed that they would operate the clinic as a social clinic during the one-month transition that it was meant to be closed.
