More and more people talk about suspicious hospital activities – you can’t imagine the influence of your manager

He kept several million in the bank

Alfridas Bumblys told Delfi about his experience in communicating with V. Janušonis, Chief Physician of the Klaipėda University Hospital, as well as in the communication between the Klaipėda Territorial Health Insurance Fund and KUL through police institutions that took place almost a decade.

“It is very strange to me that V. Janušonis is still in this position. Firstly, why he should have been removed from his current position: in 2000 he was appointed Minister of Health, and in 2001 he suddenly resigned for incomprehensible reasons and returned to work at Klaipeda University Hospital, where he worked before becoming a Minister, said A. Bumblys.

– Attention should be paid to the circumstances of V. Janušonis’ return to work as chief medical officer of the hospital: in its decision of 19 April 2001, the Chief Ethics Commission decided to acknowledge that “in 2001”. April 5 The employment contract of the Klaipėda City Municipal Council with former Minister of Health Vins Janušonis regarding his admission to the Klaipėdos ligoninė public institution as chief physician was concluded in violation of Article 18 of the Law on Coordination of Public and Private Interests in the Civil Service. requirements “.

This means that V. Janušonis, after leaving the post of Minister, is not entitled to hold the post of Head of KUL for one year. doctor’s duties.

“Myself, after having stopped working for the Klaipėda Territorial Health Insurance Fund for one year, I had no right to participate in competitions and hold the position of head of the hospital, which was financed and controlled by the Insurance Fund of Klaipėda Territorial Health, as prohibited by the Civil Service Law, “said A. Bumblys.

The interlocutor recalls another event that may also have led to the removal of Janušonis from his current position.

“In 2010, Snoras Bank filed for bankruptcy, and some medical institutions held large funds in it. Among them is KUL. In December 2011, V. Janušonis applied to the State Health Insurance Fund for compensation for the funds frozen in the Banco Snoras, that is, 4 million LTL, said the interlocutor.

– For some reason, no service was interested in this topic: how could a hospital, being a public medical institution, that is, a non-profit institution, accumulate such a large amount of funds in a bank? After all, in the case of public medical institutions, the health insurance funds pay the PSDF funds for the services provided according to the established rates and these funds must be used only for medical purposes. I don’t think the hospital has recovered those millions of Snoras, but no one asks how they got there. “

According to the interlocutor, this money had to be used specifically for legal hospital purposes, including the payment of staff salaries instead of accumulation in a bank account.

Numerous violations were identified each year

A. Bumblys also remembers other events that caused suspicion during his leadership.

“Every year, medical institutions submit financial activity reports to the ICD, which show how they use PSDF funds throughout the year. Those reports, after careful analysis, raise many questions about the legitimacy of using these funds, said A. Bumblys.

– For example, KUL 2011 LTL 6 million was used for unspecified and unexplained expenses in the line “other expenses”. It can also be seen that LTL 5 million was spent on the purchase of medical equipment. spend LTL 6 million on medical equipment. Although the purchase of such expensive medical equipment requires permits from the Ministry of Health, V. Janušonis did not submit permits for the purchase of expensive medical equipment at the request of the ICD. “

According to A. Bumblis, the State Health Insurance Fund and the Ministry were informed about it, but nobody took action.

Third, after conducting an audit on September 1, 2014, the State Audit Office discovered that Klaipėda University Hospital, run by V. Janušonis, could illegally use 600,000 LTL from the PSDF budget in 2010-2011 not for services medical care but for the reconstruction of the central building. ” A. Bumblys said. Said violation established by the State Audit Office did not respond either.

According to the interviewee, both the Territorial Health Insurance Funds and the State Health Funds are those institutions that not only distribute money to personal health care institutions by entering into contracts with them, but also control how these funds are used. Funds allocated to a medical institution from the PSDF budget should be used for medical purposes only, not for construction, equipment purchase, or the like.

According to A. Bumblis, this is regulated by article 9 of the Health Insurance Law. Each ICD has control departments which, in view of the irrational waste of PSDF funds, are responsible for carrying out the inspections.

“In 2007, 2008, 2009, we conducted many inspections in personal health care institutions, most of the violations were detected in KUL. The facts of the illegal use of PSDF funds were established. For example, from 2007 to 2009 595 thousand were used illegally. litas In 2008-2009, it was discovered that some 218 thousand people were used illegally. LTL PSDF budget funds. KUL was contacted, but V. Janušonis did not agree with our conclusions and did not return the money. The health insurance fund was forced to file an application with the courts, these funds were required through the courts, “said A. Bumblys.

Psychiatric services were introduced without a permit.

In 2007, according to the interlocutor, V. Janušonis illegally established a secondary level psychiatric ward and began to provide secondary level psychiatric services.

“Before the establishment of any hospitalization service, a medical institution was required to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Health in accordance with Article 2 (2) of the Health Care Institutions Law. Although KUL is subordinate to the municipality of the city of Klaipėda, in accordance with the provisions of the legal acts, SAM delegates the provision of second level services to this hospital. KUL did not have such permission before starting to provide psychiatric services, but requested the Klaipėda Territorial Health Insurance Fund to pay for these services. I applied for a permit from SAM, but he did not provide it to me, so I categorically refused to pay for these services, ”said the interlocutor.

Since then, as A. Bumblys said, serious conflicts began with V. Janušonis, which lasted for many years. KUL continued to provide these services without permission. The ICD had to go to court and one of the courts ordered KUL to return some 595 thousand LTL to the ICD budget.

“In the absence of contracts with KUL for the provision of psychiatric services, the courts continued. At the same time, the attack on Klaipėda ICD started from various institutions and people in power at the time, which was practically directed specifically at me. Complaints They were written to the then Chairman of the Seimas Anti-Corruption Commission, Kęstas Komskis, SAM ministers, VLK There was also the mayor of Klaipeda Vytautas Grubliauskas, who, in my opinion, wrote defamatory letters to the health ministers of that time. written for history, “said A. Bumblys.

A. Bumblys says he wanted to sue the mayor of Klaipeda V. Grubliauskas for defamation, but did not.

“There were a lot of demands at the time, I was already bored and I didn’t pay attention to Grubliauskas’ slander.” And Grubliauskas, judging from all the writings, is possibly closely related to Janušonis. Even the prayers in the written scriptures were the same. So it was, “said the former head of the ICD.

According to A. Bumblis, the Klaipėda City Council, to which KUL is subordinate, has been contacted many times, as well as the control committee of the municipal council.

“But you can’t imagine the influence Janušonis has there. I had to attend several meetings of the municipal council committee. After lowering their heads, all the members of the health committee were even afraid to look at V. Janušonis, who also participated in them, “said A. Bumblys.

A. Bumblys has repeatedly received complaints from people who came to Klaipėda ICD regarding the KUL work style, led by V. Janušonis. Complaints received in writing were sent to the mayor of Klaipeda V. Grubliauskas.

“In 2012, I sent around 116 of them. People came to me: grandmothers, retirees, who were barely passing. He said that such baskets were introduced in the Klaipeda University Hospital, for example, for eye surgery, prosthetic joints, he says, I am obligated to buy those packages, I have to give away the latest savings. I took this issue seriously about bringing bonuses to KUL. I wrote to the Health Committee at Seimas, presented the facts to the health ministers, complaints from the people. Some of the complaints were made orally, they were afraid to write letters, they said: “They will not operate on me in the hospital and if they operate on me, they will kill me,” said A. Bumblys.

For unpaid psychiatric services filed in court

According to the interlocutor, seeing that the Klaipėda Council was not taking any action to address this problem, the Klaipėda DCI approached the then Chief Prosecutor of the Klaipėda Regional Prosecutor’s Office, Giedrių Danėliai.

“On October 16, 2012, we contacted him and put forward all the arguments regarding KUL violations, how PSDF funds are misused, what laws are being violated, what are the illegal actions. The material presented was not analyzed. and evaluated by the prosecutor’s office, and the ICD received no response. However, soon, on October 26, the director of Klaipėda ICD was suspected in a criminal case during the pre-trial investigation, “said A. Bumblys.

Klaipėda ICD director, interlocutor A. Bumblis, was accused of possibly carrying out inappropriate public administration activities in the field of health insurance, ie. by not including certain services provided to patients of Klaipėda University Hospital in the PSDF list of services and, therefore, causing significant material damage to the hospital and discrediting the name of a public official.

Simply put, Mr. Bumblys was charged with failing to fund the services of a psychiatric clinic provided by KUL with PSDF funds.

“Then the courts began, which lasted for quite a long time. By an unappealable ruling of 28 August 2013, the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania ordered the Klaipeda DAI to retroactively sign contracts for the provision of psychiatric services at the Klaipeda University Hospital for years 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012. I think this is the only court decision in Lithuania that forces a person to sign contracts retroactively, after all this contradicts the provisions of the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania and others legal acts. Although the ruling was not subject to appeal, ICN Klaipėda appealed against it. The Supreme Administrative Court reacted to this and a judge was appointed to review the ruling, “said A. Bumblys.

At that time, according to the interlocutor, an attempt was made to remove him from the position of director of the ICD. He was soon successful and A. Bumblys was fired, another person was temporarily appointed at this location in Klaipėda ICD, who withdrew the statement described above from the Supreme Administrative Court regarding the review of the case, therefore the case was not examined, but simply “killed”.

In 2014, after the courts, A. Bumblys was reinstated to his former position: the courts ruled that he had not abused the service and had committed no crime, and the criminal case was dismissed.

He does not believe that the ministry cannot change this situation.

“In my opinion, between Mayor Grubliauskas, former Mayor Taraškevičius and the head of KUL. Communication based on personal connections with Dr. Janušonis was constantly developing. Now it makes me smile when people try to report violations of mobbing or control of infections and they think they will change something. I don’t know what V. Janušonis’s current relationships are, but I think that if they are the same as in the times described, with the prosecutor’s office, Komskis, Grubliauskas, it will be very difficult for him to attach something ” said A. Bumblys.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, Klaipėda University Hospital has been prostrated at SAM press conferences. Minister Aurelius Veryga often mentioned that the large outbreak of the virus in this hospital was due to the lack of adequate infection control. This is evidenced in the anonymous complaints received at that time, according to the minister, from the doctors who work at the hospital. However, when journalists asked if he was not destined to remove V. Janušonis from office, A. Veryga’s response was generally the same: it was not at the will of the Ministry, since the institution belongs to the municipality of Klaipėda. The former Klaipėda ICD director thinks differently.

“It just came to our attention then. How can it not? And why not ask who is funding this treatment facility? Is Mayor Grubliauskas, or the municipality, or the hospital funded by the PSDF budget? Correct answer: the Services are paid for with PSDF funds On the other hand, what services can KUL, led by V. Janušonis, provide in accordance with the provisions of the law? The legislation stipulates that municipal institutions provide secondary level services delegated by the Ministry And why does KUL provide tertiary level services? Because these services are also delegated to provide SAM. Therefore, the Ministry should have full control over how these services are provided in this hospital. The name KUL is also interesting – ” university hospital. “It is a primary municipal medical institution. This is not a” university “hospital. Interesting conclusions,” said the interlocutor.

All connections and accusations are denied.

After contacting KUL vyr. When asked about his possible illegal return to the managerial position in 2001, V. Janušonis replied that “I returned to work in a hospital 19 years ago according to the procedure established by legal acts.”

Regarding the funds at Snoras Bank, the head of KUL said that this bank was selected to pay the employees’ wages through a tender.

“The wages were paid through a bank (not in cash) by order of the Ministry of Health. This was done by all medical institutions. Many medical institutions, including in Klaipėda, held and lost funds at Snoras Bank. Our funds in the bank were one month’s employee wages, which were not paid to employees after the bank’s activities were suspended, “wrote V. Janušonis in the response provided.

When asked about purchasing expensive equipment without permits, V. Janušonis said: “Financial activities, including the purchase of equipment at the hospital 7 or 8 years ago, as now, were carried out according to the procedure established by legal acts. He lost all administrative cases brought against me “for violations” by the then Klaipėda ICD Director, A. Bumblis, in court. “

As Delfi wrote earlier, after two KUL doctors discussed the Klaipėda city’s mayor’s possible relationships with V. Janušonis, Vytautas Grubliauskas strictly denied them, adding that all the allegations were just rumors.

“I really don’t want to comment on any comments, rumors, or any other thoughts. Of course, I know many people all my life in this city, and that number includes a doctor from a university hospital, but talking about some kind of friendship or privilege is completely unacceptable. It is probably possible for anyone to want what they want without taking any responsibility, so I boldly say that the assessment of this particular situation will not be from an emotional point of view, not from some kind of reflection, speculation, rumor, but from the facts, the real situation And here there are no cover-ups, friendships, which specifically do not even exist between Dr. Janušonis and me, and there can be no speech, – said V. Grubliauskas.

– A person has been working for a long time, many people know him, but to say that someone successfully covers him, then he must talk about facts and evidence. But this pandemic situation will, in my opinion, be a decisive step in answering all the questions. “

When asked if the mayor did not see the mistakes made in the hospital management process when the coronavirus outbreak began, A. Grubliauskas replied that this question must be answered by the competent and dedicated authorities.

“I only know of one aspect that Klaipeda University Hospital was the first hospital to start examining all the doctors. And the one who first examined all of them is apparently a fact here. Another aspect is that Klaipėda probably carried out the Most of the studies that led to the identification of several cases of COVID-19 infection. All these aspects are again facts that must also be evaluated. I say boldly: I really do not defend, I do not cover it and I do not, and I will not in the future, really. But estimates <...> It will be carried out by the working group established on my behalf. As soon as those conclusions are on my desk, the decisions will be appropriate and immediate. And anyway, another fact is that if the prosecutor’s office or the STT sees the investigation, that the chief obstructs the investigation, or that his presence on those charges may affect the investigation, he would eliminate it, “said the mayor of Klaipeda.

At a press conference on Friday, when SAM Minister Aurelijus Veryga asked if the ministry really has any right to control KUL, and if this hospital’s problem is still being resolved, A. Veryga replied that the ministry should continue applicable law.

“We cannot participate in some kind of arbitrariness and as soon as something occurs to us, take something and forgive, even though we haven’t even designated it.” The ministry did not appoint this leader, nor can he fire him. The founder of the institution can do this after evaluating the manager’s work and behavior. All the material is delivered to the responsible authorities, the same prosecution and the city. I have mentioned many times that, in our opinion, this was not responsible behavior, as it behaved. As the municipality has decided not to make any decision, I cannot comment on them, I do not know, maybe there is some process in progress, but they are also responsible for it. They appreciate that the manager, as far as I know, requested his report and explanations from the municipal council, which apparently convinced them. That’s all I can comment on, “said A. Veryga on Friday.