The Alternate Minister of National Defence Panagiotis Rigas, accompanied by the Chief of HNGS Vice Admiral Nikolaos Tsounis, visited Athens Naval Hospital, on Monday 19 November 2018. The Ministry’s Special Secretary Kalliopi Papaleonida and the Deputy Chief of HNGS Rear Admiral Ioannis Paxivanakis were also present at the visit.
During the visit the Alternate Minister was given a tour of the hospital’s facilities, was briefed on the mission, the function and the challenges faced and he congratulated the personnel for its work.
He particularly stated:
“Athens Naval Hospital, like the other Military Hospitals, has a very competent human workforce throughout its services. A workforce which supports the Hospital’s innovative course in the field of tertiary care and more. The people working here, doctors, nurses and the whole personnel, exceed themselves facing problems with self-sacrifice, on a daily basis. Thus they offer invaluable services, not just to the personnel of the Hellenic Navy and Port Authority but also to their families and every citizen without exception, thus promoting the Armed Forces’ social aspect”.
Furthermore he stressed:
“Our option is to conduct outreach activities and to operate the Hospital by looking for new resources, improving planning, utilising the human workforce, planning more productive services and developing bonds with society, within which and for whose benefit it operates. The effort for adaptation to current and future demands is evident, since the utilisation of infrastructures is improved daily, along with the services and capabilities of the human workforce, simultaneously decreasing functional cost.
So that is the way out, through the constant search for alternative ways to manage and utilise the available assets, in combination with the rational distribution of resources. Something which you have achieved. I wish to assure you that we comprehend the problems you face and being fully aware of the conditions, we try in every possible way and with particular actions and interventions to plan and materialise the resolution of these problems. We are hopeful that the coming period will be generally productive.
Concluding my address, I would like to stress that the support of the political leadership of the Ministry of National Defence is a given, regarding every initiative which complements, promotes and upgrades the healthcare services provided by the Athens Naval Hospital and the Hellenic Navy’s Medical Corps in general”.
