STUDY ON THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE ACTIVITY OF A HOSPITAL INSTITUTION IN ROMANIA

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted substantial pressure on health systems around the world, and the Romanian medical system, which in the last three decades has faced numerous challenges generated by several factors, such as corruption that has strongly highlighted the disaster generated by the epidemiological context. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the activity of an emergency hospital in north-eastern Romania in a comparative way by analyzing the aspects of the pre-pandemic period compared to the pandemic period, analyzing the activity reports over a period of 6 months. The variables analyzed were the budget used for goods and services, for medicines and sanitary materials and for professional training. The authors examined the data of a total of 12 reports for the chosen period. The authors findings are around the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has not significantly changed the budget allocated to personnel expenditures but has significantly changed the budget allocated to goods and services, the budget allocated for medicines and sanitary materials and the one for the professional training of medical staff. Several economic, financial and social analyses carried out in the next period will support these research hypotheses, anticipating that the effect of COVID-19 will have a long-term impact on the way in which medical services are provided in Romania.