“We are always here. Both before the pandemic and after the pandemic, we will be here to support the most seriously ill, the most critical patients of all hospital specialties. Intensive care units are the marble mills of medicine. Where the practice of intensive care is a constant struggle with death, requiring special knowledge, composure and vigilance. Requires a comprehensive approach to the patient. Our work in the intensive care unit is tiring, very tiring, but also one of the most emotional. He deserves and is entitled to the constant support of the state. “

OUR Maria Daganu she is a resuscitator-pulmonologist and head of the multidisciplinary intensive care unit of the Sotiria Hospital, created with a donation from the Greek Parliament in less than three months at the height of the pandemic. According to him, “this whole project was a great test and a shocking experience. We experienced very strong emotions. We had losses that marked us, but also victories that helped us continue our work. And this is a daily routine in all intensive care units.” Ms. Daganu is one of the winners of yesterday’s first honorary awards ceremony, a tribute to the National Health Service, organized by the Ministry of Health in the presence of the Prime Minister. Kyriakou Mitsotakis.

In total, 104 medical workers of various specialties and services were awarded yesterday. YOU. Among them is his EKAV. OUR Apostolos Damcalis he is a lifeguard, a priest and one of the EKAVists awarded yesterday. According to him, “all of us, rescuers, are the first point of contact of a citizen with ESY.

And if someone thinks that EKAV only delivers to the hospital, then, unfortunately, this is not the case. Because for some of our brethren, life hangs in the balance. And we’re here to make a noticeable difference. Deliver them alive to TEP hospitals. Sometimes we succeed and we are happy, sometimes we don’t and it tires us for a while. Returning home, we may even cry sometimes. Because for us the patient is our person. For us, EKAV is a great love. This is a service, a mission. And our mission is your life.”

“More Human”

OUR Beatrice Andreotti she is the director of the anesthesiologist at the Triasio hospital and during the pandemic she had to help her colleagues on the outlying islands: Lemnos, Ikaria, Leros, Rhodes. According to her, this experience made her realize the difficult conditions in which her colleagues work. To meet with those “who serve day and night, who are on duty but not on duty, always present and with little means trying to do their best. And the people I met each time gave me another reason to go. The gratitude I received from this world gave me the strength to go again. They made me more human.”

“We had losses that marked us, but also victories that helped us continue our work,” said the director of Sotiria Multidynamic Intensive Care Unit.

The Prime Minister, addressing the staff of the National Health Service, described the presentation of honorary awards as “the least we can say to you for what you have proposed and for the overcoming of the soul that you have shown in the health crisis”, and invited all the staff of the National health services “see themselves in the faces of those awarded today.”

The Prime Minister specifically referred to the pandemic period, describing how unprepared health systems around the world have been for COVID-19, the constant meetings at Maximos, the efforts made to strengthen the NHS and the dedication of the NHS. personnel entering patient rooms who have to face an unknown enemy. “All together we did something extraordinary. We have achieved much more than we expected after a decade of financial crisis,” he said. The prime minister referred the following day to the health system, which he said would be about more comprehensive treatment of citizens’ health with a focus on prevention and would be a central political priority for the next four years for the government of the New Republic.

“We hear you”

The need for a new NHS with service support, development and flexibility was also emphasized by the Deputy Minister of Health. Mina Gaga, which announced that more than 800 permanent vacancies for doctors in hospitals and medical centers will be announced in the coming days. Addressing the SNB officers, she said: “We are here and listening to you. We listen to your needs and plan accordingly. Because you are the driving force. Without NHS staff, nothing.”

In the same context, the Minister of Health Thanos Pleuris he noted that these awards are “our big thumbs and thanks. Moral recognition for what you offer to the Greek patient”, referring also to the upcoming infrastructure upgrades funded by the Recovery Fund, as well as the recent increase in the salaries of medical workers.

The intention of the ministry is to make the NHS awards an annual institution. It is worth noting that among the awardees there are “main characters” of the pandemic period, such as Professor Sotiris TsiodrasProfessor of the Department of Pulmonology, Resuscitation Anastasia Kotanidou and Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics Maria Theodoridouworld’s best family doctor for 2021 Anargyros Mariolis and members of EKAV-ETIK and EMAK.