OREANDA-NEWS. The modernisation of all Belarusian hospitals will be completed in this five-year plan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko was told as he visited Minsk City Emergency Aid Clinic on May 29.

“On the whole, the modernisation of all medical institutions will be completed in this five-year plan. They should be advanced to the top level and kept there,” said the head of state. He underscored, medical institutions should be fitted with the latest equipment. “If we buy something average, we will lose more and lag behind,” added the President.

Alexander Lukashenko got familiar with the operation of the rebuilt surgery and intensive care department and its capabilities. The head of state examined operating rooms, departments for resuscitation and intensive care for surgical, burn, and neurosurgical patients as well as the clinic diagnostic laboratory.

The President praised the hospital’s medical equipment and highly qualified personnel. “All medical institutions should be brought up to this ideal state,” underscored the head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko remarked, at present extensive funding is allocated for healthcare. “When the modernisation of all medical institutions is over, the released money should be used to raise salaries for doctors,” said the head of state. He added, salaries of specialists, who perform extra complicated operations, should be raised now.

According to Viktor Sirenko, chief doctor of the hospital, the institution is a powerful surgery and resuscitation centre unparalleled in the ex-USSR. It has accumulated unique equipment for treating burn patients, has a toxicological laboratory as well as other modern equipment, which matches the most advanced European diagnostics and treatment technologies. The hospital has 20 operating rooms, including two with a special ventilation system for bone operations and transplantations.

The reconstruction of the surgery and resuscitation unit, which is the main base for placing highly intensive treatment and diagnostics technologies used to provide emergency aid, has been completed. The modernisation of a five-storey treatment wing continues, with the work scheduled to complete in 2009. The reconstruction of a twelve-storey treatment wing will be the next step. The hospital’s reconstruction is supposed to be completed in 2011. The reconstruction does not impede treatment functions of the institution.