TÜK clinic heads present proposals for alternative reform
On Friday the heads of clinics at Tartu University Hospital (TÜK) presented proposals for structural changes to the council but declined to comment on the contents. Two weeks ago they called for the chairman of the board to resign over new reforms.
The council will meet again on January 31 to decide how to move forward with reforms which will create fixed-term contracts for management positions in clinics.
Heads of the clinics said Chairman of the Board Priit Eelmäe has not changed and the crisis of confidence continues.
On January 10, heads of the clinics of the TÜK expressed a lack of confidence in chairman of the board Priit Eelmäe after he announced a decision to lay off all clinic directors.
16 clinic heads wrote, signed, and sent a letter to the supervisory board. It read: "Despite promises of inclusive management and cooperation with the university, steps to implement the management career model have not been discussed with us or the hospital's partners at the university (medical training department, clinical medicine institute)."
"Priit Eelmäe's recent actions and behavior have abolished all manner of trust between the management and unit managers – heads of clinics, medical services directors. Over the past year and a half, this distrust has only deepened despite our best efforts," the letter said.
On Friday, member of the board and Mayor of Tartu Urmas Klaas: "We met with the heads of the clinics. They were all able to express their concerns, their views on the management of the clinic, the reforms in the clinic. Similarly, the board was able to explain once again what they have done in the meantime."
The University of Tartu Dean of Medicine Margus Lember, who was among those who signed the no-confidence motion, said: "We do not change our views every day. It was a serious and well-considered situation and it is clear to everyone that a solution will not be found very quickly."
On January 13, the supervisory board of TÜK decided to continue cooperation with Eelmäe as it believes the current management crisis at the hospital is solvable.
The Tartu University Hospital was founded by the Estonian state, the city of Tartu and the University of Tartu. The hospital serves as a training base for the university's medical students.
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Editor: Helen Wright