The state-owned Republican Hospital issued a statement on December 3, 2019, in which the hospital welcomes the government's Resolution 520. While talking to BMG, the hospital's acting director general Levan Gopodze has noted that the government's equalized rates are largely in line with those tariffs set by the state in 2012.
"The Republican Hospital still has historically minimal prices on all services since 2012. When Resolution 520 was published, we so that these rates are the fares, we have been working for so many years. There is a slight difference with our tariffs, some of them are higher, while others – lower. Therefore, we as a state clinic supported the initiative, as we want to be competitive in relation to other commercial structures", said Levan Gopodze.
According to the Republican Hospital Audit Report, the hospital received GEL 16,847,000 in revenue in 2018, though that revenue was not sufficient to cover all expenses and the clinic ended last year with a loss of GEL 833,000. The loss of the Republican Hospital in 2017 amounted to GEL 1 million.
On the question, why hospital has a loss, Levan Gopodze says that the clinic has virtually no profit margin under state-set tariffs. In addition, the director of the Republican Hospital notes that the well-being of their patients is valuable than the financial revenue.
“The reason for the loss is that we and other clinics buy the same equipment. Obviously, it was very difficult to compensate within the frame of the given tariffs. We have no profit margins unlike the private clinics. The patient is the person who needs to be treated and preserving his / her life is our priority,”said Levan Gopodze.
