Didymoteicho: 1.16 mln for hospital equipment

The project “Supply of Medical, Electromechanical and Hotel Equipment for the General Hospital of Didymoteicho” has been included in the Programme “Eastern Macedonia and Thrace 2021-2027”, by decision of the Regional Governor of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Christodoulos Topsidis. The announcement was made public on Friday 21 August 2026. The total budget of the project comes to 1,159,000.00 euros and the funding comes from regional resources with co-financing from the European Regional Development Fund. This is an intervention that concerns equipment alone and not building works, that is, it targets the unit’s operating capacity rather than its expansion. Inclusion means the expenditure has a secured source of funding, not that the process of buying the machinery has already begun.

The equipment provided for covers a wide range of hospital departments. According to the decision, it is intended for the Cardiology, Ophthalmology and Ear, Nose and Throat outpatient clinics, for the Coronary Care and High Dependency Unit, and for the Surgical, Internal Medicine and Cardiology clinics. The same project also includes the unit’s Technical Service and Kitchens, that is, support infrastructure that is usually left out of procurement programmes. Describing the equipment as medical, electromechanical and hotel-related shows that the purchase treats the unit as a whole rather than as separate clinical departments. In practice, the equipment of the outpatient clinics determines how many examinations can be carried out on the spot without referral elsewhere, while strengthening the Coronary Care and High Dependency Unit concerns the most serious cases.

Alongside the equipment, the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace is applying a measure to strengthen staffing: it pays a monthly financial supplement for two years to newly recruited doctors of all specialties at the General Hospital of Didymoteicho and at three more hospitals in the region. The combination of the two interventions was described by the regional governor as a single choice. “We are investing in modern equipment and in people, because public health in Evros is for us a non-negotiable priority,” Mr Topsidis said. For a border area with a low population density, attracting and retaining doctors is a persistent difficulty. The measure works as an incentive to stay rather than as a permanent pay arrangement, since it has an explicit duration of two years.

The announcement contains no timetable for carrying out the procurement, nor a delivery date or a date for the equipment to be put into operation. Nor does it clarify when the relevant tenders are expected to be issued. The General Hospital of Didymoteicho serves an area of northern Evros where the alternative for residents is to travel to Alexandroupoli, which makes the availability of equipment at the outpatient clinics critical. Understaffing is also recorded at other units around the country, as in the case of the shortage of doctors at a hospital in Fthiotida. No figures were published on the existing equipment to be replaced or on the age of the machinery, which would allow the scale of the upgrade to be assessed against the unit’s current needs.