Scandal at Bucharest emergency hospital: 17 doctors resign due to manager’s abusive behavior

Several doctors at the Floreasca Emergency Hospital in Bucharest, one of the largest emergency hospitals in the capital, decided to resign on Wednesday invoking the interim manager Sorin Paun's alleged abusive behavior. According to local Mediafax, a total of 17 doctors from the hospital’s SMURD Emergency Unit (UPU SMURD) have handed in their resignations. “I’ve been informed of the resignation of 17 doctors from UPU SMURD, who gave as reasons the psychological pressure and the way Mr. Paun, the hospital’s manager, speaks to them,” said doctor Bogdan Oprita, hospital spokesman. One of the doctors stated that the manager refused to sign for the purchase of medicines, “and from September there will be no drugs at all.” When asked how they’ve managed without drugs, the doctors said that they did what they could, but not from hospital resources but by buying drugs from the pharmacy with their money. However, the Floreasca Hospital manager claims that the doctors who resigned haven't motivated their resignations. Sorin Paun has been the interim manager of Floreasca Hospital since April. His appointment to this position came after the Romanian Health Minister at that time, Patriciu Achimas-Cadariu, requested the resignation of manager Nicusor Louchi, who had lied the Government about the fact that the hospital’s burn unit was operational when, in fact, it was not. Health minister Vlad Voiculescu said that he was aware of the situation at Floreasca Hospital. He added that there had been two mediation meetings between the doctors and the hospital's management and that a third one was scheduled for Wednesday evening. Voiculescu said that he would go and meet the unhappy doctors. "If the accusations (against the hospital's manager - e.n.) are confirmed it's unacceptable," Voiculescu added according to Mediafax. Health minister: We don’t know how many doctors work in Romania Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com