Gheorghe BRÎNZĂ, Director of IMSP Bălți, at FERM 2025: “We are not just a hospital—we are an institution that keeps an entire region in balance”

REGIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM MOLDOVA 2025

19th Edition – Vatra Dornei, July 9–13, 2025

Thematic Panel:

Healthcare and Medical Services in the Moldova Region

Speaker:
Dr. Gheorghe BRÎNZĂ – Director, IMSP Bălți Clinical Hospital

Topic of the presentation:
“Successful models in the modernization of IMSP Bălți Clinical Hospital”

Dr. Gheorghe Brînză, Director of the Bălți Clinical Hospital, delivered a comprehensive, realistic, and courageous presentation on the challenges and progress of the region’s most important medical center in northern Moldova. His speech was not a simple technical report but a clear call for collaboration, strategy, and investment in the critical infrastructure of the healthcare system in a region facing intersecting demographic, economic, and medical crises.

A hospital with republican status, serving 800,000 people

“We are the largest hospital in the Northern Development Region. We serve the city of Bălți and 12 districts, with a population of over 800,000 people.”

Bălți Clinical Hospital is classified as a republican hospital for pediatrics and maternity (level II, including neonatology), and the figures speak for themselves: over 50,000 annual patients in the Emergency Department, 33,000 hospital discharges – more than the Emergency Medicine Institute in Chișinău.

However, behind these accomplishments lies a tense reality: a staff of 1,600 struggles to support 750 beds, of which 101 physician positions are vacant.

“My institution is relatively small, but today I have 101 vacant physician positions. This puts an enormous burden on the existing staff, especially in the Emergency Department and ICU.”

The human resources crisis is acute, but there are positive developments. The Moldovan Ministry of Health has issued a circular requiring hospitals to report not only current vacancies but also projected positions for future inclusion in residency plans.

“For the first time, we are being asked to anticipate positions that will be vacated in 3 to 5 years, so that we can launch residency competitions. It’s a step forward.”

The hospital already has 67 young professionals in training, who have signed agreements to return to the north after completing their studies.

Infrastructure: phased modernization funded externally

Dr. Brînză reviewed major modernization projects, most funded by European funds, national sources, or development partners (WHO, UNFPA).

• Emergency Department (ED), modernized under the SMURD 2 project in stages – red, yellow, green, blue zones, including parking and direct hospital access.
• Intensive Care Unit, completely renovated under the COVID-19 response program, now with 20 beds featuring positive/negative pressure, air filtration, and ventilation.
• CT scanner and MRI, acquired with external support – “these are neither municipal nor hospital funds,” as Dr. Brînză noted. The MRI installation required structural reinforcement, and the CT is constantly overloaded.

“On average, over 200 patients visit the ED daily. 127 staff work there but are overwhelmed. The CT runs continuously, the MRI less so, but it’s functional.”

Digitalization and cybersecurity

The hospital is part of the national breast cancer screening program, with a mammogram machine connected to the oncology institute via a secure government cloud.

“We do not store images locally. We upload them to the governmental cloud. The diagnosis is double-checked: one locally, the second in Chișinău.”

For CT and MRI imaging, a lack of specialists has been mitigated through telework contracts: radiologists from Chișinău Emergency Hospital remotely analyze images sent via secure VPN.

The hospital has entered the design phase of a comprehensive energy efficiency program, which includes:

• insulation of buildings A and B;
• modernization of heating and ventilation systems;
• photovoltaic panels and solar hot water systems;
• new water supply and sewage networks;
• sanitary facilities in each ward.

“53,000 m² will be rehabilitated. Technical design deadline: November 2025. Works start in 2026. It’s a government-backed project, but extremely important for us.”

Additionally, three emergency operating rooms are nearing completion, with over 8 million lei invested. Other projects include installing an elevator in the infectious diseases ward and converting old spaces.

Project management: “Three people bring in 50× more than we spend on their salaries”

A special section was dedicated to the project acquisition and implementation team, established in 2020 after a lesson learned in Romania.

“We have three people on the team. It’s the best investment: they bring in 50 times more money than we spend on their salaries. Without this department, we couldn’t access so many funds.”

The hospital is already preparing for Moldova’s EU pre-accession funds and intends to have all technical project documentation ready to apply quickly to Interreg and other funding lines.

Although he avoided specifics, Dr. Brînză confirmed that the Northern Regional Hospital will be a separate entity located 500 m from the current hospital. The project is in the tender phase, and appeals are delaying implementation.

Cross‑border cooperation: an open invitation

“If you’re looking for cross‑border partners, we’re open. We have everything: projects, people, Ministry support. We just need the right call to apply to.”

Dr. Gheorghe Brînză’s speech was dense and articulate, rich in concrete data, relevant examples, and direct references to on‑the‑ground realities. Beyond an honest assessment of challenges—from acute staffing shortages to infrastructure still ill‑adapted to modern needs—it clearly presented a coherent, realistic, and at the same time ambitious vision of what a modern hospital should mean in a region like northern Moldova: economically vulnerable, yet strategically located and with under‑leveraged development potential.