Health minister attributes public hospitals’ losses to insufficient budgets

BANGKOK, Nov 7 (TNA) -- The public health minister admits that insufficient budgets caused loss-ridden operations of public hospitals. But he said the number of cash-strapped hospitals dropped from 119 to 87 after the prime minister approved a special budget to solve the issue. Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn told the press that the loss-ridden operations of state hospitals were normal and happened even in rich countries like Britain and Japan. Losses also resulted from the ageing society and the modern medical treatments that involved costly technologies, he said. He said the Public Health Ministry supervises more than 10,000 hospitals at various levels and they take care of 70% of the total population of 65 million. A special budget of 5 billion baht from the prime minister solved liquidity problems at cash-strapped hospitals. Their number dropped from 119 to 87 in fiscal 2017. That also resulted from administrative improvement and the opening of their evening clinics, Dr Piyasakol said. (TNA)