Greens threaten to leave government over hospital transformation

The Green Party threatened to leave the coalition in case Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek didn’t fulfil his promise not to transform the teaching hospitals into joint-stock companies. The party made the statement at the meeting of the national council on Saturday. The Chamber of Deputies last week voted down a bill aimed at blocking the transformation of teaching hospitals into joint-stock companies, a proposal put forward by shadow health minister David Rath. Prior to the move, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek promised that neither the health ministry nor the government would transform the hospitals into joint-stock firms.