Hospital in western Romania sues hundreds of patients for unpaid treatments

The management of the Arad Emergency County Hospital in western Romania has sued hundreds of patients who had benefited from treatments that were not reimbursed by the state, and never paid for them. The total amount the hospital should recover from these patients is of more than RON 1.2 million (some EUR 266,000), reports local News.ro. In the last four years, the Arad County Hospital sent 310 files to the court to recover the expenditures it made for the treatment of some patients. However, the number of debtors could be much higher. Corina Crisan, the hospital’s medical manager, told News.ro that the debtors are patients who, although they have a health insurance, only get reimbursed for emergency treatments, not for certain surgical interventions. The victims of car, home, or work accidents usually find themselves in this situation, but also those who have been the victims of assaults, who have injured themselves, or tried to commit suicide. She also said that the hospital might never get back the entire amount of RON 1.2 million, for various reasons. “Especially in the case of assaults, the offenders are either not found by the prosecuting authorities, or they just reconcile with their victims. Thus, the hospital lawyers don't have who to call in court,” Corina Crisan added. Last year, the hospital won 11 of the 37 lawsuits opened in court, getting back some RON 70,000 (EUR 15,500). Lawyers say that the facts prescribe in five years. After that period, the hospital can no longer sue the debtors. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com (Photo source: Cjarad.ro)