Valainis: Farmers' Union party will not back budget unless hospital reform is revised

Viktors Valainis, prime ministerial candidate of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS), has said his party will not support next year's state budget unless issues tied to the hospital network reform are significantly revised. He made the statement in an interview on the LETA podcast "Kas tas vispār bija?".

Valainis said ZZS votes for the budget will not be there until this issue is properly addressed, adding that the party cannot "turn its back" on residents of Latvia's regions.

Criticism of the Health Ministry

The politician accused the Health Ministry and the government of failing to properly hear hospital representatives during discussions on the reform. According to him, the head of the Latvian Hospital Association had asked to take part in a government meeting discussion but was not given the floor.

Concerns over staff shortages

In Valainis's view, the proposed reform does not actually address the core problem — a shortage of medical staff. He argued that if the reform effectively reduces hospital personnel, even additional funding would not fix that mistake.

He named insufficient healthcare financing overall as the system's root problem, saying that trying to solve the funding shortfall by taking money away from the regions would be short-sighted.

Possible resistance in parliament

Valainis said he believes the Saeima would not support the reform in its current form. He predicted that if lawmakers examined the proposal in detail and heard out hospital representatives, some members of the current coalition would also vote against it.

ZZS also plans to raise the hospital reform issue through parliamentary oversight procedures.