The sanitariums have devised a survival plan: offer the state 100 million. euros to exchange their services to the population

The situation in the sector is bad

Artūras Salda, president of the National Association of Sanatoriums and Rehabilitation Institutions and General Director of Sanatorium Eglė, said the usual approaching holiday period was one of the busiest for sanitariums, but today the picture is quite different.

“It just came to our attention then. In November, the employment rate of most institutions was between 20 and 40 percent, and if we get to at least 30 percent in December, it will already be a very good achievement.” , said.

Before the pandemic, as stated, the majority of the pie of income from sanatoriums and rehabilitation, more than a third, came from foreign guests to medical and healthcare companies, another third from Lithuanian guests, and the remaining income was received by sanatoriums and rehabilitation centers through the State Health Insurance Fund. and patients referred for treatment.

“As for the latter, this was what helped the compliance more stable, but we see things are slowing down now because hospitals are likely to have a reduction in scheduled operations,” said the manager.

A. Salda, as well as the Managing Director of Eglė Sanatorium, also spoke about the recent layoff announcements at this company.

“You can see that since the beginning of March, the number of employees in our sector has decreased by around 400. This is more than 10 percent. decrease. It happened without big, noisy waves of layoffs, just without filling vacancies.

During the second quarantine, we, Eglė Sanatorium, announced plans to reduce the number of jobs. That if all this happens, the sector will lose another 400 employees only of us, which will be a great blow to the entire sector, “he said, adding that the same opinion is being shared with other colleagues in the association who do not know.

As for colleagues, until a concrete decision is made about the dismissals, no one comments and it cannot be said.

But the truth is that the situation is difficult in many companies in the sector and it should be noted that all subsidies for downtime remain valid until December 31. It is natural that there is uncertainty about what will happen as of January 1, and this forces companies to consider all options, “said A. Salda.

Offers a massive state order for 100 million.

The association’s president said last week that he had presented to authorities for the second time a proposal on how to shoot two bunnies at once: to help survival businesses and to improve the health of society itself.

According to A. Saldus, the proposal is related to a massive state order to provide medical rehabilitation services and sanitarium treatment, which, at the expense of the state, could be provided both to people with COVID-19 and to those who have already recovered, say , have certain health or mental health problems.

The proposal establishes that a project of this type would cost the state 50 million euros per year. EUR and would run for two years, in 2021 and 2022, and sanatorium services could be used by 70,000 people a year. population, which means that in two years it would be 140 thousand. population.

“Who would need this help more, the specialists would see. Our suggestion is that this can be decided by the GPs, since it is very individual.

It could be a person (coronavirus – ed.) With strong immunity who is fine and does not need anything, but it could be a person who has not been ill and whose health has deteriorated to such an extent that rehabilitation would be one of the ways to regain your health.

Our proposal does not specifically say that rehabilitation is provided only in the case of a coronavirus, we say that it must be decided by family doctors, “he explained, ensuring that the general idea is that the companies that currently provide this type of services have many resources left untapped.

“The sanatoriums and rehabilitation centers are almost empty, we have workers who are in danger of becoming unemployed, it could be in the interest of the state to help this sector, because we have a sector that has attracted many taxes to the state budget and attracted many foreign tourists.

On the other hand, citizens of the state currently need such services. There are people who have had COVID-19, and that number is growing day by day, another thing is that there are people who have not had COVID-19, but both their physical and mental health is deteriorating.

Consequently, we say that there is a situation in which the State, the sector, the workers and the citizenry can win. Citizens in need of medical care would receive services, and the State should, in any case, spend that money on treating these people or pay unemployment benefits to those who lose their jobs in our sector, thus allowing the institutions to keep their jobs and activities. pay taxes and increase Lithuania’s GDP, ”said A. Salda.

According to him, such a proposal had previously been submitted to the previous government, but decisions were postponed due to possible higher priorities that existed at the time.

“I resubmitted the proposal last week, but apparently the problem is that the government is currently changing and it is no longer clear to whom to offer that proposal,” said the head of the association.

In his opinion, if the government accepted such a proposal, it would help the sanatoriums survive and avoid imminent layoffs.

“And if it is adopted later, it will be helpful to get back to work as soon as possible and get on our feet. It would definitely help us survive,” said A. Salda.

The letter presented to the authorities was signed by: Society of Physicians of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Lithuanian Union of Psychologists, Lithuanian Public Health Association, Lithuanian Association of Physiotherapists, Lithuanian Association of Occupational Therapists, Lithuanian Resort Association , Association for Mental Health Management, National Association of Sanatoriums and Rehabilitation Institutions, Lithuanian Association of Biological Psychiatry, Lithuanian Society of General Practitioners.

Mauricio: support is needed, but it has to be different

Delfi also asked Sigismund Maurico, an economist at Luminor Bank, what he thought of the offer. He said he agreed that the sector needed help, but would suggest a different one.

“I would not be inclined to accept these ideas with great enthusiasm, since it distorts the market and restricts the free choice of the population. If there is an option (or take advantage of the travel-ed proposal), it is usually used only by those who want and have time, so those who do not have to travel at that time for one reason or another are discriminated against.

I would be more inclined to focus that support, especially on workers, to increase compensation for downtime so that workers do not disperse, to move away, and secondly, to increase direct support to companies in this sector. To compensate or subsidize them for certain costs so that they remain viable until the economy recovers ”, suggested the economist, assuring without hesitation that companies still need to stretch 5-6 months in one way or another.

“Last May was already a pretty good situation, because, judging by the curves, the virus seems to be seasonal.

Therefore, I agree that support for this sector should be increased, but not in this way, but by emphasizing direct support to employees and covering costs for companies to survive, ”Ž said. Mauricas.