Cyprus parliamentary committee calls for urgent recruitment of doctors in four specialties at Limassol hospital

The Parliamentary Health Committee visited Limassol General Hospital and the German Medical Institute (GMI), calling for the recruitment process to be accelerated for doctors in four specialties the hospital lacks, as well as for the completion of facilities whose construction has dragged on for years.

Committee Chair and DISY MP Savia Orphanidou said that lawmakers would support the hospital. “We must make a positive and constructive contribution to modernising services, saving lives and protecting the most precious thing we have — our health,” she said. According to her, the procedures for the four specialties needed by the hospital must finally move forward, while construction works that have dragged on for years should be completed by the end of 2027.

Particular attention was paid to the haematology clinic, which is to be strengthened with additional staff and used to develop oncology programmes so that, over time, the hospital can perform bone marrow transplants. Public hospitals, and oncology services in particular, must compete with the private sector, Orphanidou said. Limassol General Hospital serves around 300,000 residents of the city and part of Paphos District.

Marinos Kallis, chairman of the board of the State Health Services Organisation (OKYpY), acknowledged that the problems were known. According to him, decisions had been taken in time, and the organisation intends to meet the deadlines for both the specialties and the completion of the hospital. Over three years, OKYpY invested more than €250 million in infrastructure and equipment; facilities under the Recovery Plan and additional projects are to be completed by 2027.

At the German Medical Institute, the committee was shown diagnostic equipment and digital technologies. The institute is awaiting authorisation to operate the first allogeneic bone marrow transplant centre in Cyprus. GMI Managing Director Professor Nikolaos Zamboglou asked for state support to cover staff salaries and complained about the high costs: “Limassol is moving ahead, but prices are soaring too.”