ArmInfo. The staff of the closing obstetric services will be employed. This was announced on January 16 to head of the RA Ministry of Healthcare Arsen Torosyan, commenting on the closure of these services operating at medical facilities of the communities of Maralik, Achajur, Arteni, Artsvaberd, Tsaghkaovit, Kajaran and Yeghvard. To recall, the decision to eliminate them was made due to their non-compliance with the standards regarding the number of births received in the annual context (minimum 150), technical equipment and staffing.
Torosyan noted that as a result of the process of closing the above services, none of the employees were left without work. So, some of them work concurrently in medical facilities, in which these obstetric services operated. In the case of other workers, the ministry, according to Torosyan, is ready to discuss the issue of their further employment.
He also informed that, based on the results of the discussions, the obstetric service in Yeghvard would not be closed, since its indicators are closest to the established standards. So, last year 136 births were accepted here with a set minimum bar of 150. Torosyan noted that this service will receive state funding for one more year and, if specialists pay attention to positive changes during repeated visits, a state order will be provided in subsequent years.
As for the other six obstetric services, in which discrepancies were identified, decisions on their part are unlikely to be revised due to the fact that their indicators do not meet the requirements both in terms of technical equipment and staffing issues.
We add that since mid-2018, by order of the Minister, the process of studying the state of medical institutions providing obstetric care services was initiated. The focus was on such aspects as the availability of specialists of the corresponding profile, technical equipment, the number of births accepted annually, and so on. In addition, the distance to the nearest medical centers providing more extensive medical services was calculated. An exception was made for medical facilities located in remote communities (Berd, Chambarak and Meghri), and therefore, their closure may adversely affect the availability of medical services.
The Ministry of Healthcare explains this step by the policy of reducing child and maternal mortality in the country, since the quality of the medical services provided is directly related to this issue.