Penza, 2 September 2016. PenzaNews. The information on the transfer of medical function of emergency medical care in private hands is nothing but provocative rumors, the press service of the Ministry of Health in the Penza region reported on Friday, September 2.

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“Emergency medical care is provided and will be provided in the Penza region of the Russian Federation for free. The initiative to establish restrictions on the amount of free medical care was not supported, as evidenced by official data published on the department website,” the press service stressed.

However, it explains that in Mari El, Chuvashia, Perm Krai, Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Kirov regions there runs a pilot project involving the outsourcing of the transport function, ie the maintenance of ambulance vehicles will be performed not by hospitals, but private companies.

The department informs that if the project receives positive results, the practice may be recommended for implementation in other regions of the country.

As PenzaNews reported earlier, the process of collecting signatures against the privatization of ambulance service started in the Penza region at the initiative of the deputy of the Legislative Assembly, the first secretary of the regional committee of the Communist Party Georgy Kamnev. According to him, saving people is an important social function, which cannot be given into the hands of private owners, who think of their profits and not the life and health of people.