Doctor Unionists Unhappy With Nomination of Tomas Hasko as UDZS Head

Bratislava, April 27 (TASR) – Doctor unionists have reservations about the nomination of Bratislava Ruzinov university hospital deputy director Tomas Hasko for the post of Health Care Supervisory Office (UDZS) by Health Minister Tomas Drucker (a Smer-SD nominee), TASR learnt on Wednesday.

The unionists link Hasko with shady rental of hospital parking lots in the past. “We don’t view the decision to nominee Tomas Hasko as UDZS director prudent… Whether such people can usher in a real change to the way how UDZS functions is questionable,” said Doctor Labour Union Association head Peter Visolajsky. The unionists recommend either an independent expert endorsed by professional organisations or a representative of the opposition for the post.

It is also the manner in which nominations take place that must be changed, according to MPs Miroslav Beblavy (Independent) and Alan Suchanek (OLaNO-NOVA). Instead of UDZS and VsZP director hopefuls being appointed by the Government at the recommendation of the Health Minister, the lawmakers would like to see them approved first by the Parliamentary Health Committee. This won’t be the case with Hasko, although Drucker promised to present a new director of the state-owned health insurer VsZP to the committee prior to his or her appointment.

If this were so, it would represent an important precedent in the sphere of public administration supervision, said Beblavy, who praised Drucker for the move. Beblavy pointed that it’s also the past and background of potential candidates that should be looked into as part of official evaluations.