Greek island hospitals face critical staff shortages amid tourism surge

Public hospitals on Greece’s islands are operating with severe staffing gaps as summer tourism peaks. In Crete, hospital staff fell from 6,701 in 2021 to 5,640, a loss of 1,061 workers, leaving key departments such as cardiology, ENT, ophthalmology and child psychiatry with only a single doctor. The hospital on Syros reports having no neurologist and a single urologist for a month, while other specialties operate with far fewer physicians than needed. Similar shortages are reported in hospitals on Lefkada, Naxos, Rhodes, and Kefalonia, where dozens of organic positions for doctors and nurses remain vacant, operating rooms are reduced to two of seven, and intensive‑care units are closed. These gaps force patients to be referred to other facilities, strain remaining staff, and risk compromising care for both residents and the influx of tourists.

The staffing crisis has drawn criticism from medical unions, highlighting the danger of inadequate medical coverage during the high‑season period and calling for urgent recruitment and resource allocation to maintain safe hospital operations across the islands.