Renewable energy systems in state hospitals will be financed with BGN 30 million

Public health facilities will receive funding for renewable energy sources to improve their energy efficiency and reduce their electricity bills. For this purpose, nearly BGN 30 million will be provided by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works. The pilot project is funded by the Operational Program "Growing Regions" 2014-2020 under the Instrument for Crisis Recovery with COVID-19 REACT-EU. The total budget for this instrument is over BGN 129 million. This was announced by the Deputy Minister and Head of the Managing Authority of the program Delyana Ivanova at the annual meeting to review its implementation. The event was attended by Agnes Monfret - Head of Department "Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia" in the General Directorate "Regional and Settlement Policy" of the European Commission, experts from the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Finance, Fund of Funds and others.

Deputy Minister Ivanova noted that currently the procedure for supporting state hospitals is in the approval stage and is expected to start by the end of May. The beneficiary will be the Ministry of Health in partnership with state medical institutions.

Piloting renewable energy systems will help hospitals not be completely dependent on the purchase of electricity, natural gas or diesel for heating. The measure will significantly help hospitals located in an old building stock, which is energy inefficient and energy consumption is extremely high. This will alleviate their financial situation and reduce environmental pollution. The energy from own RES will be able to power individual hospital systems, which will lead to significant savings and reduce the carbon footprint, it became clear during the presentation of the project. "Our main goal is to strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the health system," said the Deputy Minister.

Delyana Ivanova informed that two more projects are in the process of approval, aimed at the health system with funding of BGN 100 million from the OPDR under REACT-EU.

The first one is "Support to outpatient facilities and transfusion hematology centers for crisis management". It envisages the supply of new medical equipment for outpatient facilities and transfusion hematology centers. It will have a module for telemedicine, which will allow medical advice in remote areas.

The second project - "Strengthening the capacity of the hospital network for crisis response", includes construction and installation work to create isolated areas for treatment and monitoring of patients and provide the necessary medical and non-medical equipment, respiratory medical equipment, intensive care beds, mobile X-ray machines, etc. Both projects are expected to be approved by the end of April.

During the annual meeting were reported the results of the measures taken by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and OPRD to support the health system since the beginning of the pandemic 2 years ago. Deputy Minister Ivanova noted that at the beginning of the epidemic over BGN 40 million were provided. 453 respirators and 10,000 medical pulse oximeters, hospital equipment, lung ventilation devices, specialized equipment for infectious wards were delivered with them. Laboratory devices for PCR tests, laboratory equipment, diagnostics for primary and confirmatory diagnostics, personal protective equipment, disinfectants were delivered.

Reconstruction, design and repair activities for the construction of isolated structures for the treatment of patients with COVID-19 have been carried out through the priority axis "Support to the health system for crisis management". State and municipal medical institutions, centers for transfusion hematology, etc. have been modernized. 107 medical institutions and 2 laboratories were supported.