Italian regional health agencies expand staff to keep emergency services running

The Azienda Sanitaria Territoriale (AST) of Ascoli Piceno announced the hiring or contract extension of 71 personnel—including specialist doctors, trainee physicians, nurses, health‑social operators, technicians, midwives and dietitians—to sustain emergency and urgent‑care services. Director General Antonello Maraldo said, “Nella quasi totalità si tratta di rinnovi nell’area dell’emergenza e urgenza per garantire i servizi essenziali e della rapida sostituzione di unità cessate,” emphasizing that most positions are renewals aimed at maintaining essential care.

Meanwhile, the Sardinian health authority ASL 5 of Oristano approved seven freelance contracts for doctors trained abroad to work in hospital emergency departments for six months, a measure intended to avert a potential shutdown of emergency units. The decision, signed by Director General Grazia Cattina, involves an investment of more than €340,000. The same resolution also granted eleven short‑term assignments to retired general practitioners to reinforce primary‑care facilities until the end of the year.