Some 180 health care facilities have been either renovated or built from scratch in a short amount of time as part of the national program designed to reconstruct and rehabilitate over 300 health centres all over Albania. The newly renovated health care centre in the village of Ndroq, Tirana outskirts, offers now a range of services and the latest international standards in primary health care to around 10,000 local residents. The previously ruined health centre building underwent a thorough rehabilitation project and offers now the latest medical equipment and international standards in primary health care, the Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu said as she accompanied Prime Minister Edi Rama during a visit to the new facility.

“This is a newly-renovated health care centre with a staff of 23 doctors and health personnel that provide care services to around 10,000 local residents in Ndroq and I believe that through this program we have ultimately delivered on what we have pledged about strengthening the primary health care system and the opportunities we offer citizens to receive health care near their place of residence,” Manastirliu added.

As of Jan 1, more than 59,000 citizens no longer needed to report to service windows in order to renew their health card, by they have completed the procedure online via the web platform, while the burden of proof for patient status rests now with health institutions.

“Gaining and providing health card was one of the practices that caused delays in gaining access to health services. In the first two months only, it turns out that some 59,000 services have been eliminated thanks to the health card, which means more access to services,” Health Minister said.

In addition to renovating the health infrastructure and digitizing, some 140 doctors were hired in hospitals and health care centres across the country in the first two months of the year via the “Doctors for Albania” platform, a transparent system based on everyone’s performance scores.

“Incredible! We have just graduated from the Faculty of Medicine, obtained the doctor’s licence in December and we started work at end of January,” one of the young doctors at health care centre in Ndroq said.

“The application was a very comfortable process. It just took a computer and you can file an online application from your home. The process was also very transparent. Frankly saying, I still don’t believe I have started work here in Tirana. I doubt a lot whether this would be possible if it were not for this opportunity via the web platform,” another doctor acknowledges.

It’s been two years since the web platform “Doctors for Albania” was launched and it has turned out to be a success story.