Dismissed TÜK clinic chairman: Decision made at the wrong time
The chairman of the board of the Tartu University Hospital Priit Eelmäe was dismissed on Friday by the hospital's supervisory board.
Eelmäe confirmed to ERR the Council had decided to dismiss him. "In my view, these decisions are made at the wrong time and the reasons cited by the Council are surprising. As you can imagine, clearing up things under the cover of something greater can be tempting, but it is not completely fair," he told "Aktuaalne kaamera".
At the same time, Eelmäe noted the hospital and its staff needed change.
The Council explained in a press release that the hospital's crisis management team led by Joel Starkopf has successfully prepared for the coronavirus pandemic, but is not impressed with Eelmäe's efforts.
"The emergency situation and the end of scheduled work also means reorganising the treatment of non-COVID patients. As treating those patients will also become more difficult in the coming weeks, extensive preparatory work will be undertaken in all clinics," supervisory board chair Urmas Klaas said.
In the council's view, Eelmäe has not devoted enough attention to these tasks and his continuing as the chairman was not possible.
The supervisory board appointed Marek Seer as acting chairman of the board.
Tartu University Hospital has been in the midst of a management crisis in recent months. In the beginning of February, a statement signed by the top managerial staff said that the hospital's main responsibility is creating the prerequisites and conditions needed for work, not issuing self-centered orders.
Back then heads of departments at TÜK called for the dismissal of Eelmäe, expressing no confidence in him and on February 4, through an open letter published in the media, called him and chairman of the supervisory board of the hospital Tartu Mayor Urmas Klaas to resign.
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Editor: Anders Nõmm