SOME state-run hospitals paid more for electricity last year than they should have, according to an analysis by the ethics watchdog Transparency International Slovensko (TIS), which surveyed nine of 10 hospitals with the highest number of public tenders. The organisation says that the facilities should be able to negotiate lower prices, the SITA newswire reported.
The University Hospital in Bratislava (UNB) and in Košice, as well as Banská Bystrica’s Roosevelt Hospital, are among those paying higher rates for electricity.
According to Andrej Lednár from Prvá Energetická company, UNB paid €12 more per 1 MWh last year than the Central-Slovak Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases, which had the most favourable electricity contract. The institute’s electricity consumption was one tenth lower than UNB. The difference between the payments came to €210,000 in 2013, the analysis reads, as reported by SITA.
Hospitals that paid fair market prices for electricity included the Teaching Hospital in Nitra, the Central Military Hospital in Ružomberok, the National Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases, the University Hospital in Martin and the abovementioned Central-Slovak Institute of Cardio-Vascular Diseases. The average price of electricity ranged from €47.4 to €54.3 per 1 MWh, SITA wrote.
The Health Ministry said in response to the analysis that each hospital has a different financial situation, which impacts its position when negotiating energy costs.
