The Israelite Hospital of Rome
risks closure due to excessive Italian bureaucracy, its
commissioner Alfonso Celotto told ANSA on Tuesday.
The hospital's former administration were caught up in an
investigation into major fraud of Italy's national health
system, which led to several arrests of senior officials and
medical personnel in October.
Celotto said the hospital was facing bureaucratic delays to
reopening after the Lazio region asked for an additional
commissioner to be installed. The candidate chosen for this post
is a magistrate and needs approval from judicial authorities.
"Bureaucracy is killing the Israelite Hospital of Rome and
it risks not being able to take up its operations again and
having to lay off 700 employees if a solution is not found
before Christmas," Celotto said.
The hospital has been closed for almost two months and is
losing thousands of euros a day, he said.
It is the only hospital in Rome that has a synagogue and
offers kosher food, he said. It has historic ties to Rome's
Jewish community but serves people of all faiths and
ethnicities.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA