Under the plan, first-level health service centers will be established at the 55 locations that each include a general practitioner and a nurse, and could offer physical therapy as well as midwife and home nursing services, spokespeople for the ministry said.

The new health centers would better correspond to the needs of the country with its aging population, with increasing resources needed to monitor chronic diseases and keeping them under control.

The centers are to be built and equipped by the local governments and cross-funded by the Ministry of Finance. Eligible are municipalities and their hospitals that are part of the hospital network development plan, as well as licensed general practitioners and providers of specialist medical care that work at a location where a general practitioner is available as well.

The funding, backed up with money from the European Regional Development Fund, has to be part of the total cost of a center along with any applicant's own financial contribution.