Thursday, January 16 2020 15:45

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.