Does Lithuania still need resorts?

In addition to Birštonas, there are 3 more resorts in Lithuania (Druskininkai, Neringa, Palanga) and 5 resort areas (Anykščiai, Ignalina, Kaunas district, Trakai, Zarasai). These areas, which contribute to the promotion of tourism in Lithuania as well as to the development of medical rehabilitation, are united by the Lithuanian Resorts Association, which has been operating since 2007. From 2021 I have been elected President of the LCA, therefore, on behalf of this institution, I would like to provide information on the importance of sanatorium rehabilitation and the planned reform of health care institutions of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Lithuania.
While we are healthy and full of life and the joy of life, we rarely think about the significance of sanatorium rehabilitation. We only rate it if you have experienced serious illness or injury.
Sanatorium rehabilitation not only helps to restore health after difficult operations, long treatment, protects against possible complications, but also provides an opportunity to return to a full life faster, re-enter the labor market. In a broad sense, sanatorium rehabilitation is important not only for the patients themselves, but also for the state and the country's economy.
2022 In early January, the Ministry of Health initiated the transition from inpatient care to a model based on stronger primary and outpatient care and day inpatient services. Generally speaking, attempts are made to leave rehabilitation mostly in hospitals, with some moving to the outpatient level. And what will be left for the sanatoriums? Sanatorium medical rehabilitation will be pushed to last place for the first time in its history. Even more terrible is the limitation of funded health services. This means that every year the number of rehabilitation patients in Lithuanian resorts, which are perfectly adapted to provide this vital service, will decrease. Paradoxically, the initiators of the reform, "optimizing" the system to save public money, chose to pay the highest price - patients and their health.
There is a shortage of hundreds of family doctors and nurses all over Lithuania, more and more workers are leaving the health care sector, most doctors working in the province are older (and there is no one to replace them, as fewer and fewer young professionals choose to work in Lithuania!). It is in this context that the authorities set out to carry out the aforementioned reform of the health care sector. A reform that would move services away from the population and close the doors to local health facilities. Also, let’s not forget the changing geopolitical context in which access to health care is becoming even more important on a daily basis!
The reform of health care institutions may become disastrous not only for the residents of smaller Lithuanian towns, but also for the residents of resorts and resort areas and for those coming to the sanatoriums operating here. With such hasty and cardinal decisions, the real impact and results of the reform will run counter to the stated goals.
Relocation of services currently provided by institutions operating in resorts and resort areas (Birštonas Public Institution Tulpės Sanatorium, Palanga Rehabilitation Hospital, etc.) to the regional centers will severely affect the municipalities of these territories: they will lose not only well-performing, qualified, qualified institutions. the number of medical professionals, but also a significant reduction in the number of tourists coming for rehabilitation. The unclear situation created by the reform will pose a real threat to the further development of resorts and the development of their infrastructure. With the relocation of rehabilitation services to other cities and the abolition of part of the facilities providing medical rehabilitation services, patients will no longer be able to take advantage of these added value provided by resorts and resort areas.
This reform is clearly detrimental to the provision of quality and safe medical rehabilitation services to those who need them. Lithuanian resorts have accumulated the material base for the provision of sanatorium rehabilitation services, special infrastructure, and invaluable experience ensuring purposeful activities in the fields of health and wellness. And this should not be ruined, but encouraged, to maintain the achieved high level of services, experience and researchers.
The Lithuanian Resorts Association has repeatedly emphasized the importance of strengthening the science of spa studies. And these are not just empty words. A draft law on the sustainable development of Lithuanian resorts and resort areas has already been prepared, which also pays great attention to the use of natural resources for treatment purposes. This month, the Lithuanian Resorts Association intends to sign a tripartite cooperation agreement with the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences and the National Association of Sanatoriums and Rehabilitation Institutions.
A good start for future cooperation is April 1. The first joint conference “Basics of Nature and Forest Therapy and Health Impact” organized by the LSMU Rehabilitation Clinic and the Lithuanian Association of Natural Therapy was held in Birštonas. Its speakers reaffirmed that closeness to the natural world is one of the foundations of health. The second event is already planned - in June and a month, spa professionals will gather for a conference dedicated to dr. For the scientific-creative legacy of Jurgis Vytautas the Bear.
The tripartite cooperation agreement is an ambitious goal for the future of Lithuanian resorts. It is intended to scientifically substantiate the benefits of natural resources for human health, to find out new possible treatment methods and technologies, and to develop methodological recommendations. Implementing this would create preconditions for the growth of health tourism in Lithuania, improve the health and quality of life of Lithuanians, increase the country's GDP and increase the competitiveness of Lithuanian resorts in the world. Looking more broadly, in the future Lithuania could become an area and the main base for innovative spa treatment and sanatorium rehabilitation.
Instead of ditching, is it time to start building?

President of the Lithuanian Resorts Association,
Mayor of Birštonas municipality
Nijolė Dirginčienė