The President of Georgia opened a new hospital built within the scope of the hospital sector development program in Bagdati by the insurance company “GPI Holding” and equipped with modern technology. Mikheil Saakashvili spoke with the medical personnel, visited the first patient, and talked to them about the importance of medical insurance.

“Health insurance is very important and every person should have it. In the past, even if someone fell in the street, the first thing the emergency doctors were asking was whether that person had money. I’ve been told that the Bagdati hospital has not had any patients in last 3 years. Back in the past, hospitals were called hospitals symbolically when in reality they were not hospitals at all. The modern hospitals that are being opened are like five star hotels” – noted Mikheil Saakashvili.

The President of Georgia also addressed the audience gathered in front of the hospital and talked with Bagdatians about plans for developing the region. According to the Head of State, the relocation of the Parliament of Georgia to Kutaisi will be the beginning of the advancement of the entire region.

“People did not believe me when I said 5-6 years ago that we would have a healthcare system similar to those of Sweden and Netherlands as well as other developed countries. What has been created here exceeds even my bravest expectations. Many of our public servants are already insured and next year we will insure all children under the age of 5 and all pensioners. Aside from this, there will be a lot of inexpensive insurance packages so that insurance will be accessible to everyone. The second important issue, especially for the areas around Kutaisi, is the fact that according to our constitution, our highest legislative body shall relocate to Kutaisi. This means that this place will become the political center of Georgia. Everything is decided by the people in Georgia today and this is what’s important. It was not my caprice to relocate the Parliament to Kutaisi. The results of this move will first of all, decentralize the country and give western Georgia an important political function and second of all, it will intensify economic development and the circulation of money. This will be followed by new facilities and new jobs. To be short, we must revive this area” – stated the President of Georgia.

The new Bagdati hospital has 15 beds and employs 70 local highly qualified specialists. The insurance company allocated 2.5 million GEL for the construction of the clinic.