President Čaputová Meets with Dean and University Hospital Martin Representatives
On Tuesday, April 25th, Slovak President Zuzana Čaputová made her way to the town of Martin to engage in discussions with key figures from the Turčianske region's healthcare sector. The meeting took place at the Slovak Chamber Theater and included representatives from the University Hospital Martin, the Jessenius Faculty of Medicine at Comenius University, and the Martin Center for Biomedicine.
The central topic of conversation revolved around the shortage of doctors in Slovakia's healthcare system and the importance of education in addressing this issue. The Dean of the Medical Faculty, Prof. MUDr. Andrea Čalkovská, stressed the need to expand enrollment in non-medical fields, such as nursing, in addition to medical students, to help bridge the personnel gap in hospitals.
University Hospital Martin Director MUDr. Ivan Kocan echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that increasing the number of graduates would enable a smoother transition to hospital employment and help alleviate the current healthcare workforce shortage.
Additionally, the importance of connecting healthcare and science was highlighted during the meeting. Prof. MUDr. Lukáš Plank, Head of the Institute of Pathological Anatomy, emphasized the need for collaboration between the University Hospital Martin and Jessenius Faculty of Medicine. In a conversation with Prof. Erika Halašová, the Director of the Martin Center for Biomedicine, President Čaputová discussed the importance of scientific research and clinical trials in advancing healthcare. Prof. Halašová called for a revamp of the public procurement system to streamline the process and facilitate growth in the field.
Organ donation was another key topic brought up during the meeting. Doc. Juraj Miklušica, Head of the Surgical Clinic at the University Hospital Martin, highlighted the importance of raising public awareness of organ donation programs. President Čaputová was also informed about an upcoming event commemorating the 20th anniversary of the transplant clinic at the University Hospital Martin, to which she expressed her full support.