Egyptian parliament passes law regulating private sector's management of public hospitals

CAIRO – 20 May 2024: The House of Representatives passed Monday a law regulating the private sector's management of public healthcare establishments, and that was drafted by the government and approved in principle on Sunday.

The goal is enhancing the quality of service. Yet, the private sector will not be allowed to run specific types of facilities that are healthcare units providing basic services, family planning units, blood donation and plasma collection units, as well as vaccination processes.

There will be a percentage of medical services provided by the establishment privatized allocated to the beneficiaries of public and universal health insurance, and patients who were granted free of charge treatment funded by the state's treasury.

The bill also obliges the private administrator to keep at least 25 percent of the current medics in a given establishment as long as they are not willing to quit. It also allows hiring foreign medics and lab technicians as long as their share does not exceed 25 percent of the staff.