Greek Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis responded to reports of falling plaster at Venizeleio Hospital, accusing those highlighting the incident of trying to present a distorted picture of the National Health System, known as ESY.
In a post on X, Georgiadis described the circumstances of the incident, saying no workers were at risk because the space was empty. He said about 1.5 square meters of plaster fell over the weekend in a closed, empty office, and that the hospital's technical service handled the repairs.
He said the two doctors who normally use the office were not there at the time, and that once the problem was noticed, the fallen material was removed and repairs were made. He called it an unforeseeable event with no prior warning signs, and said hospital management had given both written and verbal instructions to the Technical Service to carry out regular inspections.
Minister rejects criticism of hospital conditions
Responding to criticism over the state of hospital infrastructure, Georgiadis said people should relax, that ESY is not collapsing, and that across the hundreds of thousands of square meters the system covers, some damage can occur.
He said he was tired of what he called a "misery gang" exaggerating every incident to paint a picture of a collapsing health system. He added that the government is carrying out the largest building upgrade program in the history of the National Health System. He closed his post by wishing a happy August 15th holiday, adding "with health."
