Health Minister Nikola Todorov said that the department is in a new cycle of investment in public healthcare institutions, with a newly reconstructed ambulance in Labunista expected to be opened soon, and reconstruction of general hospitals in Bitola, Prilep and Veles on-going. Todorov added that the specialist hospitals St. Erasmus in Ohrid is also being reconstructed, and soon work will begin in Kumanovo on a new emergency care wing, to be followed by thorough reconstruction of the St. Naum of Ohrid surgery in Skopje.

"We have already finished work on the general hospital in Tetovo, and the Kozle hospital is working at over 100 percent of its capacity. Over 70 percent of its staff was educated abroad, including at the Bambino Gesu hospital in the Vatican", Todorov said during a visit to Strumica with Prime Minister Emil Dimitriev and VMRO-DPMNE leader Nikola Gruevski on Saturday.

Gruevski said that the numerous visits to hospitals across Europe and the United States, to push for cooperation agreements, were worth it, with 300 Macedonian doctors sent for further education abroad each year. Next step in this regard, Gruevski said, would be to bring top specialists from abroad to work in Macedonian public hospitals and train doctors. Minister Todorov said that in the past five years, over 4.000 people were hired in the healthcare sector, 90 percent of them medical practitioners, and 2.200 were sent to specialize abroad.