On June 23 and 24, under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the meetings of the tender committee of the members of the board of trustees of the Universal Health Insurance Fund and the general director of the fund were held.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan noted that the selection of committee members and the general director takes place in two stages. In the first stage, announcements were made, submitted applications were examined and those candidates who meet the requirements for filling the above positions were selected. According to the presentation of Anahit Avanesyan, the second stage of the competition will take place within the framework of the sessions, and the members of the committee and the general director will be selected from the candidates selected in the first stage based on the results of the interview.
According to the agenda, the members of the committee first studied the submitted documents on the candidates and conducted an interview with the candidates. During the interview, the candidates presented their vision of increasing the efficiency of the development and management of the sector, their professional experience, and answered the questions of the members of the tender committee. After the interview stage, a vote was held, the voting results were summarized and a decision was made to recognize the winners.
Next, the Prime Minister announced the results of the competition. Accordingly, as a result of the vote, Shant Shekherdimyan, the head of pediatric surgery at the Los Angeles Hospital of the University of California, Varduhi Petrosyan, the dean of the Faculty of Public Health of the American University of Armenia, Artashes Tonoyan, the director of the Yerevan branch of the World Trade Center, Tumas Palu, the adviser of the Ukraine office of the World Health Organization, Khodam Rostomyan, the regional head of the “Kaiser Permanente” company, were elected members of the board of trustees. The head of “Berekke Bank Kazakhstan” was elected the general director of the fund financial director Ruben Melkonyan.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan thanked the members of the tender committee for their efficient work and noted: “The universal health insurance system is a very significant and turning point reform for the Republic of Armenia, and the next stage of this reform is taking place.” According to the Prime Minister, the Government delegates the management of the fund to elected members and the CEO, continuing to play a significant role in the policy-making process. According to the head of the country, the beneficiaries also have a very important role in this process, with their daily reactions and their level of satisfaction, as well as the medical community, whose representatives are involved in the tender committee.
According to Nikol Pashinyan, the selection of the members of the board of trustees and the general director was made with the logic that the Government, the Ministry of Health, the beneficiaries, the medical community, the board of trustees and the general director form a certain system of balances, which in turn will ensure the general development and success of the fund and the universal health insurance system in general.
Summing up, the Prime Minister thanked all the responsible people involved in the process, as well as Samvel Kharazyan, who is performing the duties of the general director of the fund, for the work done during this period, and expressed confidence that he will continue his participation in the process in any capacity. According to Nikol Pashinyan, there is enough potential to successfully continue the reform that has been going on until now, because a universal health insurance system covering the entire population is expected in the future, which is a big and extensive work.
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