Page 41 - THE ROMANIAN HEALTH CARE

request for tenders and design contest. The most frequently used procedures are the open

bid and the request for tenders. To be successful in the award procedure on SEAP, all

required steps must be executed meticulously in order not to be disqualified. It is extremely

important to comply with all requirements as published on SEAP. In reality the system is not

flawless, a common technique is to escape from the thresholds for procurement is splitting of

the contracts in smaller contracts.

The current government has announced plans to build 3 new public hospitals. The first one is

the Western Romania regional hospital 21 with a budget of 377m euro, to be built in Floresti

near Cluj-Napoca and finalised by the end of 2023. The minister of health plans to submit a

request for European funding in fall of 2018. The other two hospitals are to be built in

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Bucharest, both with a budget of 300m euro . The first one in the capital’s first district

(sector 1), the other one in the northern area of Pipera.

5.6.2 Private hospitals

The number of private hospitals has grown very fast. In 2010 there were 75 such hospitals

and by

2016 their number had risen to 201. Private hospitals can claim treatments at the

National Insurance House (CNAS). They also charge their patients a fee for services rendered

on top of the fees received from the CNAS. They also sell services and products that are not

part of

the package reimbursed by CNAS. Clients/patients have to pay these from their

household budget. Private hospitals aim at the wealthier parts of the population, who mainly

in

live the larger cities. Not surprisingly, private hospitals are mostly located in the largest

population centres and especially in Bucharest.

The look and feel of the hospitals are more marketing influenced than public hospitals.

Especially the larger ones, like Regina Maria are clearly in the consumer services market, as is

evident from their website and buildings. Smaller hospitals have a less developed online

marketing. The quality of private hospitals differs a lot, the larger hospitals have a broad

spectrum of
treatments, the smaller a limited offer. Websites of smaller hospitals can suggest

that they offer a lot of specialties, the quality is often unclear. Private hospitals are market

in
driven their service to patients, generally the relatively simple care is offered. Care that

people are willing to pay extra money for, for example care related to child birth. Romanians

have a

sympathy for children – like many other nations – thus are willing to spend money on

pregnancy, child birth and child care services. Procurement in private hospitals goes without

the electronic tendering compulsory for public hospitals. On the other hand private hospitals

are commercial profit driven and will negotiate hard on price. In general, price is the first and

foremost variable in purchasing decisions by Romanian companies.

21 https://www.romania-insider.com/cluj-regional-hospital-finalized-december-2023
22 https://www.romania-insider.com/hospital-bucharest-district-1
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