Puglia faces extended healthcare recovery plan amid 350 million euro deficit

During a hearing before the Chamber of Deputies' Social Affairs Commission, Walter Bergamaschi, Director General of Health Programming at the Ministry of Health, addressed the ongoing management of regional healthcare deficits and the evolution of monitoring systems for Essential Levels of Assistance (LEA).

Puglia remains among five regions—alongside Abruzzo, Molise, Calabria, and Sicily—subject to a healthcare recovery plan. The region faces a 2025 healthcare deficit of 350 million euros, which impacts critical areas such as hospital investments, nursing staff recruitment, waiting lists, and territorial service sustainability. The recovery process may extend into 2027.

Additionally, the Ministry is transitioning the LEA monitoring framework from a system focused on compliance and budget balancing to one that incorporates performance indicators. This new approach, planned under the 2025 and 2026 Budget Laws, aims to measure health outcomes and the efficiency of resource allocation, moving beyond the two-decade-old architecture that primarily focused on regional budget equilibrium.