One of the options for solving the crisis at the "Dr. Simo Milošević" Institute in Igalo is to organizationally and financially separate the commercial part of the Institute from the part that cares for patients from the public health system, and in that variant, that part of the Institute would join a state hospital, similar to what has been done with Meljine Hospital.
It is an integral part of the recently adopted Government Platform for rescuing and restructuring the Institute. According to the platform, the Government should adopt a Rescue Plan that would be implemented for six months and that would be the basis for a Restructuring Plan that would be implemented for three years. There are no tentative dates when these documents could be adopted.
The Institute's account has been blocked since December 8 last year. As a result of that account blocking, the employees do not officially receive a salary, but they received help from the Government, which was paid into the union account, and thus they abandoned the planned strike. This aid was in the amount of 1,13 million euros in mid-April. It is particularly worrying that with accumulated problems the Institute is entering the summer tourist season when it generated the highest income.
"If the Institute remains outside the system of state hospitals, determine a realistic and fair fee for services of general economic interest. Take into account the real cost of a hospital day for the Health Insurance Fund, as well as other operational and investment costs. This means that double accounting is being established and thus financing of the Institute is enabled until the restructuring process begins", states the Platform, with the assessment that if the Institute remains outside the public health system, it could receive 15 million in annual aid without the assessment of the Agency for the Protection of Competition.
In the case of this scenario, which system of state hospitals would the Institute belong to, when could that separation take place, how many of the Institute's workers would belong to the commercial part, and how many to the state part, and what would happen to their salaries, and would admission prices be adjusted in that case? of patients from the regular healthcare system are questions to which the Ministry of Health does not have an answer.
"The platform for rescuing and restructuring the Dr. Simo Milošević Institute is only a platform with guidelines for the establishment and adoption of a clear Implementation Plan of the proposed model, which will be considered in detail, and only then adopted and implemented in order to ensure the sustainable operation of the Institute. In this regard, the Ministry of Health will act agilely according to all the obligations that will be delegated to this department, in consultation with all relevant factors, and that the public will be informed about it in detail. At this stage, it is too early to talk about details", said the department headed by the minister Vojislav Šimun.
The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property did not specify the deadline by which the Rescue Plan, which should be the basis for the Institute's Restructuring Plan, will be adopted.
"The platform envisages a series of measures to modernize and improve the work of the Institute, which will strengthen its position as a renowned center for rehabilitation and medical tourism. The platform, among other things, aims to stabilize the Institute's operations, with a special emphasis on preserving jobs, as well as improving the quality of services. The adoption of the platform represents a responsible act of the Government in order to define clear guidelines for the development of the Institute's Rescue Plan, which the Ministry of Spatial Planning will submit to the Government for adoption as soon as possible, after the Competition Protection Agency gives its opinion. After that, it will be submitted to all shareholders of the Institute for consideration and adoption, in accordance with the positive regulations of Montenegro", said the department he manages. Janko Odović, with the message that "minority shareholders were repeatedly invited by representatives of the state capital at the Igalo Institute to join the process itself, but we are witnessing that their interests are different".
According to the Platform, the rescue procedure would be a one-time aid of 10 million euros and would last a maximum of six months, while the Restructuring Plan would be implemented within three years.
"After the adoption of the Rescue Plan, it is expected that the Institute's account will be unblocked and its functioning will be easier until the adoption of the Restructuring Plan." The goal of adopting the Rescue and Restructuring Plan is to preserve the employees as the greatest resource of the Institute, its modernization and the return of its old glory from the period when it was the pride of the Montenegrin health system and health tourism. The Government of Montenegro will make every effort to ensure that the Institute survives and, after modernization, is very competitive in the market of health services and medical tourism, for which Montenegro has enormous potential," said the Ministry of Spatial Planning.
New price list with the Fund and the introduction of "fair compensation"
In the Platform, it is stated that the Institute achieves a negative result in business with the Health Insurance Fund, so that loss is covered by income from business in the foreign market.
"The Institute receives patients from the regular health system at an average price of 44 euros, while the Institute costs about 60 euros per patient per day. Losses that occur due to the lower price paid by the Institute to the Health Fund are covered from the income generated from the services that the Institute charges at market prices. This way of doing business of the Institute makes it impossible to make investments and even cover operational costs", the Platform states.
To solve this problem, it is proposed to annex the contract between the Institute and the Health Fund and to correct the price of a day of hospital treatment. Along with the correction, a "fair compensation to the service provider" would be introduced.
The question for the Ministry of Health was what this "fair compensation" would entail.
The valuation of the Institute has not yet been done
The executive director of HTP "Vila Olive" (the largest minority shareholder of the Institute) Petar Rakčević told "Vijesti" that in mid-March of this year the Government adopted information on the status of the Institute with an assessment of the situation and a proposal for measures.
"On page 8, it was stated that in order to protect state interests, the position was taken that first a new assessment of the real value of the Institute should be carried out by an independent appraiser, and that on the basis of that assessment, the Government should address the minority shareholders with an offer for (1) the purchase of shares or (2) ) their proportionate financial participation in the recapitalization and restructuring of the Igalo Institute. At the press conference on March 21, 3, the representatives of the Government informed the public about this position. That assessment has not yet been completed, nor have the minority shareholders received any offer so far," said Rakčević.
He explained that according to the Law on Business Companies, as well as the Statute of the Igalo Institute, the company is managed by the Shareholders' Assembly, the Board of Directors and the Executive Director. "The platform established by the Government was not presented to the Board of Directors, nor to any of the 44% minority shareholders of the Institute, therefore I am not able to express a position on it. Government announcements state that minority shareholders should support the rescue of the Institute, but none of the 44% minority shareholders of the Institute participated in the development of the Platform for rescuing and restructuring the Institute," said Rakčević.
Bonus video:
