THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
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Prayut approves Bt5 bn to bail out cash-strapped hospitals

Prayut approves Bt5 bn to bail out cash-strapped hospitals

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has approved Bt5 billion from the central budget to help solve the problem of state hospitals operating at a loss, Public Health Minister Dr Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn said on Friday.

Citing his discussion with the premier and the Bureau of Budget head in the morning, Piyasakol said Prayut was concerned but understood the issue of hospitals suffering from major cash-flow problems as Thailand becomes an ageing society.

He said the premier approved a Bt5 billion budget to help bail out hospitals and would observe the results from the expenditure in the third and fourth quarters. In the long term, it was necessary to reform the overall health system, to adjust the health insurance system and financial matters and ensure state hospitals have the ability to sustain their operations. Piyasakol said he would discuss these long-term solutions with related agencies at a later date.

He said five hospitals now had “Level 4 critical” cash-flow problems and they could be solved by improving the effectiveness of hospital management and injecting more money into them.

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