29 November 2002
Retired servicemen oppose planned closure of Brest military hospital

 Retired army servicemen in Brest are still opposed to the planned closure of the city's military hospital despite the authorities promise to transfer patients to other health establishments and employ the
hospital's 300 personnel.
The defense ministry announced the decision to close down the hospital this winter saying it had no funds to pay for services to 4,000 inpatients and some 30,000 outpatients annually. The decision angered the hospital's patients and staff who filed petitions with the defense ministry and Aleksandr Lukashenko's Presidential Administration. "Over the ten months of 2002 more than 3,500 people, including 1,700 draftees and 462 retired servicemen underwent treatment in the hospital. We, veterans, are afraid that we will not get the same care as here in the
city's medical institutions," retired Colonel Yevgeny Fedosenko told BelaPAN. As soon as the decision to close the hospital is officially
adopted, the hospital facilities will be reorganized, said Leonid Tsuprik, deputy chairman of the Brest Regional Executive Committee. The building will house a cardiology clinic, a first aid station and the regional
psycho-neurological clinic. Last week, Health Minister Lyudmila Postoyalko and Defense Minister Leonid Maltsev visited the hospital and announced that the hospital facilities and equipment will be handed
over to the regional healthcare department, Mr. Tsuprik noted.