Hospital Association Calls for Deeper Review of Stradiņš Hospital Losses

The Latvian Hospital Association (LSB), which represents the country's hospitals, is urging the government not to allow the negative effect of Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital (PSKUS) on the general government budget balance to exceed €5 million in 2027 and 2028 until the causes of the hospital's losses have been thoroughly assessed. The association submitted its opinion on an informative report by the Health Ministry on the hospital's planned losses.

What the ministry's report proposes

The ministry says the funding model for state-paid health services must be reviewed to secure the hospital's long-term financial stability, because current payments do not fully cover actual costs. The report proposes allowing the negative impact to exceed €5 million; it is forecast at €8.6 million in 2027 and €9.7 million in 2028.

The LSB has not endorsed the report. It argues the report does not sufficiently analyse how much of the losses stems from state funding rules and how much from hospital management decisions. The association accepts that tariffs failing to match real costs is a systemic problem across the hospital sector.

The association's objections

• Patient complexity. The report lacks data on the share of patients with severe combined conditions. In 2025 the hospital treated 48,682 inpatients, practically the same as a year earlier, while costs rose by €17.2 million.
• Intensive care. The average number of beds rose from 92 to 143, while the number of patients treated in the relevant profiles grew by 111.3% to 13,816.
• Staff. The average headcount rose from 3,367 to 3,460 and personnel costs from €104.9 million to €110.6 million. Health insurance policies for employees began in February.
• Supplies and services. Spending on medicines, medical and laboratory supplies grew from €67.1 million to €75.7 million despite a largely unchanged patient count, while maintenance, utilities and catering costs fell.
• One-off items. The LSB believes a significant part of the losses relates to litigation and debt write-offs.

The association notes that at the end of 2025 the hospital held €24.8 million in cash, current assets exceeded current liabilities by €9.7 million and operating cash flow was positive, so in its view there is no liquidity crisis.

The LSB stresses the need for a uniform approach to all hospitals and says it is ready to work with the ministry on a funding model based on actual costs.