The council sent the letter to Saaremaa municipality, the health board, the Health Insurance Fund and Kuressaare Hospital.

The council described Laane's activities and said he had improved the quality of hospital treatment. They listed examples such as bringing specialists and chemotherapy to the hospital and developing patient-centered services.

In addition, the appeal stated that Laane's activities have, among other things, increased people's sense of security.

The patients' council of Kuressaare Hospital was established in July last year under the leadership of Edward Laane.

Last week 24 doctors and employees at Kuressaare Hospital issued a petition calling for the removal of Laane, citing incompetence in the way he had handled the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) at the hospital.

The petition they signed accuses Laane of interfering in the workings of the hospital, including committing violations of data privacy, a high degree of absenteeism, and providing patients with a controversial anti-malarial drug without following proper procedures.

On Friday, the Data Protection Inspectorate initiated proceedings against Kuressaare Hospital to find out whether Laane had read health records of patients and staff, which he is alleged to have done.

Laane provided a lengthy response to the accusations on Thursday. A message posted on Kuressaare Hospital's Facebook page, said, for one thing, many of the doctors who signed the petition had not even been present on the ground at the hospital during the pandemic.

The Kuressaare Ambulance service posted a message of support for Laane on the hospital's facebook page.

The council of Kuressaare Hospital will meet to discuss the issue on Thursday.

During March and April, Saaremaa, and Saare County, had the most cases of coronavirus in Estonia. 

--

Download the ERR News app for Android and iOS now and never miss an update!