Hungarian hospitals in trouble, accumulated massive debts
László Rásky, secretary general of the Association of Medical Devices Manufacturers, told the portal that in recent weeks several hospital suppliers have approached him over the last few weeks, saying they would either stop their activities or pull the plug because they can no longer lend to the hospitals.
The paper quotes data from the Hungarian State Treasury, according to which at the end of May the debt of inpatient and outpatient clinics amounted to HUF 58.9 billion, up from HUF 51.6 billion at the end of April.
Including the four university clinics, the debt accumulated in the institutions is estimated to be as high as HUF 75 billion, compared to HUF 70 billion at the end of April. Due to the ongoing model change, medical universities no longer provide data to the Treasury and are therefore not included in the official data series of the Treasury, the paper reminds.
Of the total debt, HUF 0.1 billion is owed to the state, while HUF 58.8 billion is owed to suppliers and service providers, of which HUF 1.1 billion is owed to the general government. The secretary-general also shared data from two university hospitals: the overdue debt of the Pécs hospital was HUF 3.511 billion in May, HUF 326 million less than in April, and the debt of the University of Szeged was HUF 5.04 billion, HUF 149 million less than a month earlier.
The Association of Medical Devices Manufacturers also senses that there is a major problem: in recent weeks, it has been told by several small businesses that they are either going out of business or simply closing down. Many are wondering whether it is worth continuing at all.
According to László Rásky, roughly a third of the overdue debt is owed to energy suppliers and at least half to medical suppliers.
According to napi.hu, the government could deal with the debt situation already in the summer. The secretary-general of the association hopes that, given the existing problems, hospitals debts will be settled before September.
