The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic published a call for applications for non-refundable financial contribution in the fight against COVID-19 disease for other hospitals. Medical establishments can thus apply for European money.
From the means of the call, equipment can be provided to ensure prevention, diagnosis and treatment of patients suspected or ill with a diagnosis of COVID-19, to equip adults and children's ambulances and adolescents - epidemiological ambulances as well as the purchase of personal protective equipment to protect medical staff from coronavirus infection, said Minister of Health Vladimír Lengvarský. The public call falls under the specific objective 2.1.4 "Reinforcing capacities in the health system and protecting public health in response to the Pandemic COVID-19', developed by the Ministry of Health as an opportunity to obtain funding for health under the Integrated Regional Operational Programme.
The Commission's anti-kovide initiative, on which the Ministry of Health announced the call, is based, is the fact that the aid can also be targeted in more developed regions, i.e. hospitals in the Bratislava region, said Health Minister V. Lengvarsky.
The call for applications for non-repayable financial contribution shall be open. Authorised applicants may submit their applications on an ongoing basis until the indicative allocation is exhausted, no later than 31 October 2021. In case of high interest of applicants, successful applicants meeting the conditions of the call may be included in the storage of projects and subsequently approved.
The maximum contribution per project is EUR 300 000 the European Regional Development Fund and the corresponding contribution from the State budget. The funding shall be granted under the State aid rules for minimum State aid to undertakings providing services of general economic interest.
5 million are allocated to the call Euro resources from the European Regional Development Fund.

The challenge reflects on the European Commission's investment initiative in response to the worldwide Coronavirus pandemic. The initiative in question makes it possible to use the EU funds to help with the increased demands for public finances towards the corona crisis of an overburdened health system. The challenge takes into account not only the simplification recommended by the EC, but also specific measures reflecting Slovak needs in order to respond to the current situation in our health system. Hospitals must have sufficient specialised equipment and medical supplies necessary for quality healthcare.
Under the eligibility rules for expenditure included in the call for applications, the Ministry of Health for Hospitals has defined the list of recommended expenditure annexed to the call. It also introduced additional expenditure. This is in addition to the project budget, which will be recognised by the beneficiary if it shows savings in public procurement.
It will be possible to recover expenditure already from the first pandemic wave from 1 February 2020 before the application is approved or in the form of pre-financing to cover the costs incurred after the application has been submitted. The financial contribution is also intended to prepare for a possible further wave of contagion. The approved funds must be exhausted by the end of 2023.
Within the framework of administrative burden reduction and bureaucracy measures, the Ministry of Health for the first time introduces a system of compulsory electronic submission of applications for non-refundable financial contribution, which will fully replace paper submission by the applicant.
The call is implemented within the framework of the Integrated Regional Operational Programme, in which the SR MZ acts as an intermediary body and provider of non-repayable financial contribution. For more information, see http://www.mpsr.sk/index.php?navid=376.