Regions struggling to attract GPs and specialists

Smaller hospitals in the regions have complained that they are discriminated against by the Ministry of Health which they claim gives preferential treatment to big city hospitals directly under its management.  Michal Čarvaš, chairman of the Association of Czech and Moravian Hospitals and chairman of the board of directors of the Prachatice hospital, says this policy is undermining efforts to attract GPs and specialists to the regions, and has an impact on the depopulation of rural areas and the availability of care. The situation with pediatricians is particularly alarming. According to statistics 182,000 children in the regions do not have a GP and must travel to larger cities for medical care.