“The primary task of the hospital commanders, who will be entering service at fifty-one healthcare institutions from 30 March, will be the operation and supervision of the system to ensure that medical directors can concentrate exclusively on patient care and healing”, Minister of Defence Tibor Benkő said on TV2 television’s “Mokka” program on Monday morning.
Beginning on Monday, hospital commanders will be assuming their posts at fifty-one Hungarian hospitals. As the Minister of Defence explained on TV2’s morning show, during the virus pandemic it is very important for healthcare institutions to operate in a coordinated manner at national level, in view of the fact that Hungary will also soon be entering the mass illness phase. “In such a situation, the stocks of equipment required to combat the pandemic must be assured and managed centrally by the Operational Staff, and the introduction of the hospital commander system is necessary for the coordination of work”, Mr. Benkő highlighted.
“Hospital commanders will not be handling medical aspects; their task is uniformly concerned with operating the hospitals and managing stocks of equipment. Their work is precisely intended to enable medical directors to concentrate on patient care and healing”, the Minister of Defence emphasised. As he pointed out, this is how the Honvéd Hospital Hungarian Army Medical Centre normally operates: the Hospital is headed by a commander, whose sphere of competence extends to management and organisation, which reduces pressure on medical directors with relation to these duties.
As the head of the Action Group for the Security of Vital Hungarian Enterprises, during the program the Minister of Defence also explained that one hundred and thirty-nine enterprises had been originally selected at which management staff from the Hungarian Defence Force will be beginning their duties, but the list of companies is continuously increasing, and currently includes one hundred and seventy-four enterprises. “A total of some one thousand four hundred soldiers are currently involved in combatting the state of emergency nationwide”, he added. “Protecting the health of military personnel is also of priority importance during the performance of these tasks, and soldiers are being continuously examined and provided with protective equipment. The situation is no different with relation to the over one thousand Hungarian soldiers who are serving outside the country’s borders”, Mr. Benkő emphasised.