OREANDA-NEWS. September 14, 2009.  President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko believes it is vital to settle the issue of staff shortage in the majority of national healthcare institutions. The President made such remarks as he visited Minsk clinical hospital No. 6 on 11 September.

“There are enough university graduates with medical qualifications in Minsk. Yet a great number of hospitals are shortstaffed. We should deal with the problem,” the head of state said. Today there are 8,000 physicians in Minsk. This number is insufficient. The need for nursing staff is also acute in the Belarusian capital.

Alexander Lukashenko got familiar with the material and technical base of clinical hospital No. 6 and was given a tour of a clinical center of traumatic surgery and orthopedy. The head of state visited the center’s operating room which is the unique of its kind in Belarus. Belarusian citizens as well as foreigners are treated there.

Alexander Lukashenko saw a therapeutic division: its X-ray department, a drugstore, an exercise therapy facility and a clinicodiagnostic laboratory which serves over ten different healthcare institutions. The Belarusian head of state also visited the department of endoscopy and an operating theatre. The aforesaid departments are unmatched in the CIS in terms of provided high-tech equipment and a possibility to perform the most difficult surgeries.

Minsk clinical hospital No. 6 marked its 60th anniversary in 2007. Today it is a multi-field healthcare facility providing highly-qualified medical aid. The hospital has up-to-date medical and diagnostic equipment. The hospital staff got seven patents for invention in 2007-2009 alone. A gradual reconstruction of the hospital has been in place since 2003.

Several years ago the focus was given to upgrade Belarus’ oblast hospitals and regional dispensaries. The healthcare institutions in the capital were left somewhat aside, the President said. As a result the level of healthcare in Minsk has deteriorated. A large-scale reconstruction of healthcare institutions was launched in Minsk in 2003. Over 40 healthcare establishments have been opened since then. The construction of 13 more will be completed this year. According to Alexander Lukashenko, the year of 2010 has been set as a deadline for upgrading Minsk hospitals.