“We’re from Paldiski where there are no more doctors,” the man explained. It is also no longer possible to take x-ray images in the city.
Vivika Tamra, chief PR specialist for the Estonian Health Insurance Fund, admitted that availability of medical care close to home is not ensured in this situation. “We have discussed how to improve the next tender to retain the service in different areas. The tender could have been more successful, but we could not foresee the result,” she said.
Tamra added that future tenders will have to consider more flexible solutions to make sure services are retained everywhere. “It would be bad if specialist doctors could only be found at the two largest centers. That is not our interest,” she said.
For now, the fund is negotiating with the North Estonia Medical Center (PERH) and the East Tallinn Central Hospital (ITK) to have the major hospitals offer services in Maardu and Paldiski. Neither is obligated to operate in those areas. Negotiations are still underway.
Major hospitals less than optimistic
Chairman of the board at PERH Agris Peedu said that planning specialist medical care is a time- consuming process that requires careful consideration. He added that the priority of PERH is to ensure the hospital is always fully staffed. ITK is similarly less than enthusiastic about offering services in small places. The hospital’s marketing chief Inge Suder said that ITK does not have enough specialists to offer appointments in Paldiski.