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The situation has worsened since December 2025 when 10 operating rooms were closed at the Trauma Hospital, leaving only 3 emergency rooms in service.
The closure is due to the reconstruction of the central building and external areas. The tender worth 655 million lek was won by the company "Alba Konstruksion".
The procurement has been classified as a red flag by Open Data. The closure of 70% of the hospital for 4 months, and without a specific deadline for when the rooms will be functional, has brought about an unprecedented situation which leads to direct violations of human rights.
"Hospital reconstructions, reconstructions of rooms are definitely necessary to be done, this cannot be done without a contingency plan that guarantees the continuation of the service, the sustainability of the service and guarantees quality to patients because this is a continuous service, so it is not seasonal," said Ilir Alimehmeti, a doctor.
" The Ministry of Health, the hospital, the hospital leaders should have taken measures to have alternative routes. What could these alternative routes be, by renting rooms in businesses, opening new spaces or taking public services to return them to the service of patients", said Eglantina Bardhi, dr. Together for Life.
We specifically asked the hospital to know the number of rooms currently closed, but the official response only refers to the Operator Block section without specifying the number.
Inside Story has obtained an internal ministry email that on May 12, 2025 announces the start of reconstruction and the orientation of patients to regional hospitals. The exception is for serious specialized interventions. But citizens have no public information and coordination to date seems lacking.
"In any case, the university orthopedics-traumatology service at SUT should manage the performance of interventions at regional hospitals where there is an orthopedics-traumatology service, circulating, if necessary, medical personnel and specific medical materials."
"' One element that is lacking is the patient, so the patient knows that it is the Trauma Hospital, if a trauma happens to them, they go there. There are many patients who go to the Trauma Hospital on their own; from them they know that it is not this hospital, but another hospital, so the announcement is public ," said Ilir Alimehmeti, a doctor.
Experts consider this type of organization unfeasible, citing previous experiences that have failed.
" For example, if we take an intervention that can last two hours and we assume it is in Korça, if we add the doctor's travel time, it means that he only performs one intervention all day, while if he had been in Tirana he would have performed 4, so 3 other patients who are no longer being treated would have been treated. So it boils down to a lot of points ," said Ilir Alimehmeti, a doctor.
We sent a request for information to regional hospitals to understand whether concrete measures have been taken following the email sent by the Ministry of Health regarding the situation at Trauma. Of all the hospitals, only the Elbasan Hospital responded to our request.
Elbasan: The hospital has 2 operating rooms and basic capacities for the treatment of trauma, including orthopedic and emergency surgical interventions, in accordance with the existing equipment and infrastructure. Interventions are performed depending on the complexity of the case and the technical possibilities available. The service is covered by specialist doctors in the relevant fields.
The hospital said it has taken measures and sent to Tirana only cases that were impossible to treat in Elbasan, but explains that such cases have been few.
These are cases where higher expertise was required, as well as tools that are only available at the Trauma Hospital. On the other hand, the team of a specific intervention is not just the doctor, but a group with well-defined tasks and functions.
"Emergency and planned surgeries have different levels of preparation, because an emergency can come as an immediate event and you will have to deal with as many staff as you have, but this cannot justify the lack of sterilization or disinfection, because this should happen anyway, whether in the emergency room or in the planned operating rooms; we even have a concession for this that was sold for success and is now under investigation ," said the doctor, Ilir Alimehmeti./ InsideStory
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