Greek military hospitals are currently in a state of emergency after several allegations of malpractice and negligence.
The Minister of National Defense, Nikos Dendias, has now requested the Chief of the Hellenic National Defense General Staff to hold emergency meetings with the Council of Chiefs of General Staff to reorganize Greece’s military hospitals.
Dendias also removed the commander in charge of the 424 General Military Hospital in Thessaloniki along with half a dozen higher-ups in the military. On Monday it was announced that four army Major Generals, a Navy Admiral, an Air Force Lieutenant Commander, and two Brigadier Generals of Public Health had all “successfully completed their careers”.
The revelations earlier this month showed evidence of malpractice and neglect at Thessaloniki’s 424 General Military Training Hospital
On November 3, 2023, a 27-year-old soldier underwent thyroid and lymph node surgery at Thessaloniki’s 424 Military Hospital. Tragically, he died just three hours later. His father has accused the hospital of critical errors and omissions that led to his son’s death.
Separately, Greece’s Minister of Defence Nikos Dendias has ordered an investigation into another case at the same hospital, where the hospital allegedly took one year to communicate biopsy results.
According to media reports, on December 11, 2022, an army officer was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and underwent surgery. One year later, on December 10, 2023, the hospital informed the officer that a biopsy taken at the time of his surgery in 2022 showed that he has cancer.
During that year-long delay, the cancer metastasized. The officer has since undergone two additional surgeries and remains in critical condition. He has filed a lawsuit against the hospital, alleging negligence.
The third case regards a 50-year-old woman who underwent thyroid surgery at the 424 Military Hospital, but emerged with need for a tracheostomy tube and cannot speak.
Her husband Kostas spoke to television channel ANT1, alleging malpractice in what should have been a routine procedure: “they butchered my wife in the operating room.”
“Since February 28, we have been living a drama. I took my wife for surgery and they gave me half a person. My wife cannot live now without an assistant. She is not breathing, she has lost her speech and we will probably have another operation after Christmas to see if we can bring 80% of her breathing back. At least we left alive,” he said.
