Romania's finance minister pledges immediate approval for 22 nurse posts at Marie Curie hospital, but only if separated from larger 7,800-position memo

A neonatal unit on the brink

Eight nurses have resigned from the ATI Neonatală section of Bucharest's Marie Curie Children's Emergency Hospital, forcing the Public Health Directorate to suspend five intensive care beds. The head of the unit, Dr. Cătălin Cîrstoveanu, told Digi24 that nine critically ill babies are now on a waiting list and that the section cannot accept all incoming emergencies.

Some we cannot take and those with serious problems die on waiting lists.

The hospital needs 22 nursing posts to restore full capacity, but a government hiring freeze has blocked recruitment. The crisis has exposed a deeper tension between the Health and Finance ministries over how to unblock thousands of vacant positions across the public health system.

A bureaucratic standoff

Interim Health Minister Cseke Attila said he inherited the situation and has already promoted a memorandum that includes the 22 Marie Curie posts. The document, however, is part of a much larger request covering 7,800 positions across the health sector, a figure that the Finance Ministry says carries a significant budgetary impact not provided for in this year's budget.

Marie Curie is included in the memorandum for unblocking posts. I found this situation. They could have been unblocked before now. I exercised my attribute as interim minister and promoted the memorandum.

Cseke declined to explain why the memorandum did not reach the previous government meeting, redirecting the question to the Finance Ministry.

Nazare's conditional yes

Interim Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare drew a sharp line between the immediate crisis and the systemic request. Speaking to Digi24 on 22 July, he said the Finance Ministry would approve a separate memorandum for the 22 posts "on the spot" and that it could be adopted at the government meeting scheduled for Thursday, 23 July.

If the memorandum includes these posts that are absolutely necessary and it is clearly justified why they are needed, we approve it immediately so that it enters tomorrow's government meeting.

Nazare added that he is convinced Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan supports the measure and that the Health Ministry's initial mistake was bundling the urgent case with the 7,800-position request. He described the 23 July meeting as "very important" and said he expects the Health Ministry to send the narrower document the same day.

What happens next

The government meeting on 23 July is now the focal point. If the Health Ministry submits a memorandum limited to the 22 posts, Nazare's pledge suggests it will be approved within 24 hours, allowing the hospital to begin hiring. The broader 7,800-position request will undergo a more detailed analysis, Nazare said, because its budgetary impact must be assessed against the current year's spending limits.

For the nine babies on the waiting list and the overstretched staff at the neonatal ICU, the speed of that bureaucratic separation will determine whether the unit can return to full capacity or continue turning away critical cases.