Naxos: orthopaedic surgeon and biopathologist approved

The recruitment of one auxiliary orthopaedic surgeon and one auxiliary biopathologist for the General Hospital–Health Centre of Naxos has been approved unanimously by the board of the interlinked “Vardakeio and Proio” General Hospital of Syros and the General Hospital–Health Centre of Naxos. The decision was taken at the regular session of 12 August 2026 and recorded in acts 420/2026 and 421/2026. These are fixed-term private law employment contracts, full-time and exclusive, of two years’ duration with the possibility of an extension for one further year. The same session dealt with other matters concerning the operation of the two interlinked units, with the two medical posts approved without objection.

In his recommendation, the deputy administrator cited the increased needs of the summer period and the multiplication of the population served during the peak months. The finance department of the Naxos General Hospital–Health Centre issued a certificate committing the funds, so that the two posts can be filled without any outstanding funding issue. The two specialties are considered among the most critical for an island hospital: orthopaedics is directly connected with injury cases, which multiply in summer, while biopathology supports the laboratory side both of the emergency department and of the blood bank. On the islands, the absence of a single specialty often translates into a transfer to Athens or Syros, with everything that entails in terms of time, cost and burden for the patient and their family.

Staffing the hospitals of the Cyclades remains the most persistent health issue in the island group. On Syros, staff at the General Hospital are in open dispute with the administration following disciplinary proceedings against the president of the employees’ association, as TodayGrid recorded in the report “Syros: reaction to disciplinary inquiry against union president”. Auxiliary employment, on which a large part of island healthcare rests, fills gaps but does not create permanent established posts, which keeps the situation fluid from year to year. The summer months put the system under further pressure, since regular outpatient clinics operate alongside an increased number of emergency cases.

The next step is publication of the relevant call and the appointment of the two doctors, a process that depends on the availability of candidates on the auxiliary staff lists of the competent health region. The hospital has not announced a timetable for their taking up duties. Naxos is the largest island in the Cyclades by area and also serves the Small Cyclades, where every patient transfer requires a boat or an aircraft. More from the island on the Naxos page. The island’s permanent population exceeds 19,000 residents, and in August it multiplies. Approval of the two posts does not change the hospital’s establishment table, but it covers immediate needs for the next two years.