Calabria faces significant decline in hospital medical staff

The Calabria region in Italy has experienced a 12.6% reduction in hospital medical staff between 2015 and 2024, according to warnings from the Anaao Assomed union. This decline is driven by increasing resignations that outpace retirements, with many professionals under the age of 50 leaving public hospitals for private healthcare or migrating to central and northern Italy and abroad.

While central and northern Italy saw a net increase of 4,029 doctors (+5.9%) over the last decade, southern Italy lost a total of 1,166 professionals (-3.1%). Calabria is among the four regions with the most severe structural staff cuts, alongside Basilicata (-24.6%), Molise (-17.2%), and Valle d'Aosta (-14.2%).

To address these shortages, the union has proposed making the ‘Decreto Calabria’—a measure that allowed nearly 10,000 young specialist doctors into the healthcare system between 2019 and 2025—a permanent structural fixture by transforming specialist training into formal work-training contracts.