The petitioner shall: Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic
Name of the petition:
BEHAVIOUR FOR THE Conservation of a NEMOCIAL DREAM AS A REGIONAL NEMOCICE
–We, residents of the Snina region, citizens of the Slovak Republic, ask the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic.

We fundamentally disagree with the plan to out-categorise Snino Regional Hospital for a community-type hospital. This is due to geographically speaking with respect to the range of up to 90 min to the nearest hospitals, which would endanger the life and health of the inhabitants of the region. Due to the threat of redundancies that would automatically result in it being transferred to the level of the community hospital, which is unacceptable in a region with high unemployment rates. Since it is a hospital located in the border; Poland and Ukraine, it is essential that it is continuously available with all its departments, including for critical infrastructure and emergency services.
It's quare: No.
Number of persons supporting the petition: 23 253
Date of delivery: 7.10.2021
Date of equipment: 21.12.2021
Equipment: § 5 (6) of Law No 85/1990 Coll. on petition law as amended - not evaluated
Reason for equipment:

On 7.10.2021, the mailing office of the MZ SR was served with the accompanying letter dated 04.10.2021, marked as "PRECIATION FOR THE Conservation of NEMOCNICE SNIN AS REGIONAL NEMOCNICE - submission" in Annex 1 807 pieces of petition sheets in documentary form, in original form, marked BEHAVIOUR FOR THE Conservation of a NEMOCIAL DREAM AS A REGIONAL NEMOCICE and a list of 6 648 persons who supported the petition in question electronically by www.mojapeticia.sk. The cover letter was signed by a person appointed to represent in contact with a public authority (hereinafter referred to as "the representative') as well as by other persons who joined the citizens' joint call. The accompanying letter stated that the petition had been carried out in two ways: www.mojapeticia.sk 23 253 inhabitants supported the petition by personal collection by signature.
The Office of the Minister of Health referred the received documentation of a material nature within the meaning of the order of organisation of the Slovak Ministry of Health in the current version to the equipment of the Unit of Control, Supervision and Complaints (hereinafter referred to as "ÚKDaS") in cooperation with the Section of the Reform Agenda.
As an organizational unit of MZ SR within the meaning of the order of organisation of MZ SR in the current version, the ÚKDaS accepted the accompanying letter together with the annexes. After assessing the material and formalities of the documentation required by the Act on petition law, the ÚKDaS found that a submission marked as "PETICIA FOR THE Conservation of NEMOCNICE SNIN AS REGIONAL NEMOCNICE" of 1 807 pieces of petition sheets in documentary form and a list of 6 6 648 persons who supported the petition in question in electronic form is a petition according to the feeling of the law registered in the Special Registry Report. as a petition under Rule 6/2021.

In view of the fact that the petition is in the nature of the application, the Ministry of the Slovak Republic is obliged to make a petition within the meaning of Article 5 (6) of the Law on Petitions, according to which, if it appears from the content of the petition that the petition cannot be dealt with under paragraph 5, the public authority competent to handle the petition containing the application or proposal shall assess its content and send a written reply, together with a statement of reasons, to the representative within the period referred to in paragraph 5. Pursuant to Paragraph 5 (5) of the Law on Petitions in particularly complex cases, the competent public authority shall inform the representative in writing that the petition will be made within 60 working days at the latest. At the same time, given the fact that more than 10 000 persons supported the petition by their signatures, MZ SR is obliged to proceed with its settlement also under the provision of § 5d (1) of the Act on petition law, according to which if the petition is supported by at least 10 000 persons, it will be discussed by the competent public authority with a representative and a petition committee for the whole territory of the Slovak Republic. In view of the above considerations, the Ministry of the Slovak Republic, as a public authority responsible for handling the petition in question in a special letter dated 10.11.2021, in accordance with the provisions of § 5 in conjunction with Section 5d of the Act on Petitions, informed the representative that he would complete the petition within 60 working days of its receipt. Pursuant to § 5d (1) of the Law on Petitions, representatives of the Slovak Republic discussed the petition in question with the representative and members of the Petition Committee on 15.12.2021 at MZ SR.

In accordance with the provisions of § 5 (6) in conjunction with § 5d (1) of the Act on petition law MZ SR submitted written notification to the representative of the outcome of the petition.

We would like to begin by saying that, at the beginning of summer 2021, after the first stage of analysis, we have started communication with hospitals about the upcoming Optimal Network of Hospitals. We have met with hospitals to listen to the specifics of individual hospitals and regions. We then took the findings into account in the results of the analyses of the current hospital network and we plan to take into account the optimal network in modelling. We also attended such a meeting with representatives of Snina Hospital and Snina. We invited the representative and members of the Petition Committee to negotiate the petition in question in accordance with the provisions of § 5d (1) of the Act on petition law, which took place at MZ SR on 15.12.2021, where we have repeatedly gone through the specifics of the area in which Snina Hospital is located.

We take the petitions of the citizens of the region of Snina with full seriousness, the suggestions made in the petition and the suggestions made during the negotiations, and we will take all these factors into account when creating an optimal network of hospitals and categorizing institutional care.
At the same time, we would like to point out that the Government's draft law on the classification of institutional health care and on the amendment of certain laws was approved by members of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on 14.12.2021. The Act provides that the optimal network of hospitals will only be completed at the end of 2022. It is therefore not possible to take a position on specific hospitals and their position in the network.
We are aware of the specifics of the border area in which Snina Hospital is situated. At the same time, we are grateful to accept the invitation to Snina, because we consider it important to see these specifics with our own eyes and at the same time to check the hospital availability from adjacent municipalities.
Currently there is also coordination with other departments, whether with the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatics of the Slovak Republic and the European Commission in connection with the commitment of investment to reform and at the same time we also communicate with the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic regarding the definition of a bed fund for critical infrastructure.
During the following year, before the optimal network of hospitals is finalized, we plan to communicate with the representatives of individual hospitals and thus with Snina Hospital representatives to intensify and together to discuss in detail the input data, the spectrum of performances, the problems of regions, etc.
By sending a written reply to the representative of MZ SR he considers the petition to be equipped in accordance with § 5 (6) of the Act on petition law.

Place: Bratislava– Date:23 December 2021