The Government's response to its financial proposal for the provision of services to cancer patients in the Limassol and Paphos provinces is expected by the German Oncology Center in Limassol, which officially launched its operation in November 2017. The purpose of the proposal, submitted in November, is the radical solution to the problem of cancer patients in the two provinces who need to go to Nicosia, as well as the provision of services in the oncology diagnostic and therapeutical field not available in Cyprus, leading patients to go abroad.
As the president of the German Oncology Center, Kikis Kazamias says, the proposal is expected to bring cost savings and avoid discomfort to Limassol and Paphos’ patients, who will not have to go to the capital. On the other hand, as he points out, the proposal will be easier for the public, as it falls under the cost currently spent by the Ministry of Health for the care of these patients.
"The German Oncology Center's proposal is aimed at serving cancer patients, who have to travel all the way to Nicosia or even abroad. Additionally, the money that would have been spent abroad, will stay within the Cypriot economy and return to public funds through taxes’’ says Mr. Kazamias.
He also added that "with private funds, we have implemented 15-year-old declarations by three different governments to help patients without ‘burdening’ the public with additional operating and administrative costs that would be needed to staff a new hospital," recalling the Radiotherapy Center which had cost tens of millions of euro at Limassol’s Hospital has not yet been implemented.
Contingent incidents in Nicosia
At the same time, he explains that the German Oncology Center's investors are not aiming to maximize their profits. "We are certainly not a charity, but we are working to cover our operating costs and because we feel that we have a duty towards the Cypriot society to bring the cancer patients of Limassol and Paphos to Nicosia.’’
The chairman of the German Oncology Center also says that with 4,000-4,500 new oncology patients being diagnosed each year, the provision of services from the new oncology center in Limassol will contribute to the decongestion and enhancement of the quality of services provided in Nicosia.
"We demand equal treatment with the Oncology of the Bank of Cyprus, since both centers are legal entities under private law," Kikis Kazamias noted, clarifying that there is no competition issue.
Phase ‘B’ in 2018
The construction of GOC at Agios Athanasios, Limassol, began in May 2016, with the first phase being completed in seventeen months, during which it secured its operating license. In its present form, the first two floors have about 6,100 sq. M., with useful and auxiliary spaces. Before the end of the first half of 2018, the completion of the second phase adds 1,370 sq. M. with an additional roof garden of 740 m², as well as the floor for indoor patients. In the next phase, another 2,100 m² will be added, which will include the preventive diagnostics. The building is filled with large green areas and parking spaces for 380 vehicles. The cost of the clinic is expected to exceed € 40 million. The GOC is built on land of 50,000 m², which was leased for 33 plus 33 years.
