Original article (in Slovenian) was published on 12/06/2023
The European Commission will decide on the government’s proposal to exclude the construction of a Ljubljana Medical School campus from the Recovery and Resilience Plan. If it is excluded, the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation will provide temporary budget funding.
Portal-OS.si, a web portal, published on 28 May an MP question from Democratic Party (SDS) deputy Alenka Jeraj concerning the financing of the Ljubljana Medical School campus. The question was accompanied by the comment that the government had “unreasonably decided to withdraw from the construction of the Medical School.”
Jeraj sent the MP question to the government on 22 May stating that the government had excluded the financing of the construction of the Ljubljana Medical School campus from the Recovery and Resilience Plan. She wanted to know what the timeline and financing sources are. The MP question was published by the SDS on its website on 27 May, whereupon it was republished by Portal-OS.si.
The national Recovery and Resilience Plan, required by an instrument of the same name that the EU created to address the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, was submitted to the European Commission by the previous government in April 2021. The Council of the EU confirmed Slovenia’s plan in July 2021.
The plan included the co-financing of construction of a Ljubljana Medical School campus on Vraz Square in Ljubljana with a view to providing more space and alleviate staffing shortages in the Slovenian health system, improve the training of graduates, and launch a centre for clinical skills in non-clinical conditions.
Initially, in 2021, Slovenia was eligible for EUR 1.78 billion in grants, but because its GDP that year was better than initially planned, it is now entitled to EUR 1.49 billion or EUR 286 million less. The current government therefore adopted on 16 March this year negotiating positions for an adjustment of the plan which no longer included the Ljubljana Medical School campus.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation explained on 23 March that the project continues as planned, whereby a replacement source of financing was yet to be found. In mid May the dean of the Ljubljana Medical School Igor Švab told a press conference that the government was expected to explain by mid June how it will secure the funds.
The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation told Razkrinkavanje.si that the European Commission will decide on the exclusion of the campus from the Recovery and Resilience Plan. “Once the project is removed from the plan, temporary budget financing will be arranged and a permanent source of financing will be determined next year.”
According to the ministry’s plans, the Vraz Square campus will be built in 2026. The agreement on the financing of the EUR 64.1 million project, of which EUR 11.5 million will come from the budget, was signed by the University of Ljubljana and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, as it was called at the time, in November 2022.
At a press conference in January this year representatives of the University of Ljubljana said that demolition and preparation works had already began. The Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation confirmed for Razkrinkavanje.si on 8 June that construction is under way.
Portal-OS.si opined in the article that the government decided to exclude the project from the Recovery and Resilience Plan instead of helping to reduce the burden on general practitioners.
Health Minister Danijel Bešič Loredan said in a statement on 19 May that improving the conditions for general practitioners and reducing their workload is among the ministry’s priorities. He said they will try to reduce the administrative burden in family medicine by amending a law, adding that a draft version of these amendments will be available before the summer.
We have informed Portal-OS.si of our findings and will publish their response when we receive it.
The claim that the government has withdrawn from the construction of a new Medical School is false.