The health ministry is examining complaints about the Hadassah Medical Centre in Limassol, which holds only an imaging centre licence despite advertising cardiology assessments and rehabilitation programmes.

Health ministry deputy permanent secretary Elisavet Constantinou told Politis that new complaints about the centre had recently been received.

She said it has no hospital licence or any other licence to operate as a healthcare facility.

Politis clarified that this does not make any other activity unlawful, and that the key question is which services are provided and under what regulatory framework.

The centre opened in Ayios Tychonas, and at present has no operating theatres or inpatient beds, offering imaging, cardiac assessment, neurological rehabilitation and physiotherapy.

Politis said the centre promotes neurosurgery, orthopaedics and cardiology, yet only three doctors appear on its website.

The medical register lists a recognised specialty in General Medicine for one of them, and the newspaper could not clearly identify recognised specialties for the others.

After being contacted, the centre supplied Politis a list of 15 doctors and two clinical dietitians.

It remains unclear which are based permanently in Limassol, which attend occasionally, which only give second opinions from abroad and who is the supervising radiologist for the licensed imaging work.

Politis also reported that some examinations or treatments may have involved doctors in Israel taking part by telephone or video link, though such reports have not been independently verified at time of publishing.

Chief executive Dr George Zachariadis said the centre is backed by Cypriot investors and acts as a bridge for patients seeking second opinions or treatment in Jerusalem.

He said more than 2,000 people have visited and that it works with more than 15 doctors. He gave no direct answer on teleconference participation.

He denied that invasive treatments are carried out on the premises or that the centre works with another medical centre or hospital in Cyprus.

In Israel, the Calcalist newspaper reported that the health and finance ministries were not told of the project beforehand.

The Israeli health ministry said the plan “has not yet been conveyed to the ministry”. Hadassah said it “did not invest a single shekel” in the centre and that its role is limited to professional and advisory support.

From November 21, all referrals from Cyprus to Hadassah in Jerusalem will go through the Limassol centre.

The Cyprus Mail approached the Hadassah medical centre, as well as both the Cypriot and Israeli health ministries for comment.

Health Minister Neophytos Charalambides said on Monday he wishes to discuss with former nurses why they abandoned the profession.

Speaking on CyBC, Charalambides said he could not give an exact number of non-practising nurses as he had been provided differing figures.

He said he wanted to “hear from them directly and record their experiences and concerns”.

Charalambides conceded that “poor experiences at work and low pay” may well be among the reasons for their departure.

His remarks followed a House health committee session last week, where a representative of the nursing council said some 1,450 trained nurses are not presently practising.

The committee was also informed that 988 nurses under 40 are not renewing their licences.

Charalambides said the shortage was “particularly significant”, and the general health system (Gesy) was under “heavy pressure”.

The ministry’s immediate steps include bills before parliament that would allow the controlled hiring of nurses from outside the EU.

Ministry spokeswoman Carolina Stylianou told MPs on Thursday the plan would allow hospitals to employ about 150 such nurses and was a “temporary solution” until efforts to draw young Cypriots into nursing take hold.

Under the proposals, nurses from third countries would need the required qualifications and, as a rule, two years of experience.

They could make up no more than 10 per cent of a hospital’s nursing staff and would not be permitted to work as shift managers.

Licences would last two years, and Greek language requirements would be tougher than those applied to nurses from EU states.

Unions rejected the plan at the committee, with the Nurses’ union (Pasyno) refuting that such an act would “address the root of the problem”, arguing instead that wages and working conditions must be tackled.

Pasyno further demanded that Greek language proficiency for such nurses be held at a minimum level of C1, that being a strongest command of Greek behind C2 fluency.

For the immediate future, Charalambides said the ministry was running a campaign to attract young people to nursing schools and offering scholarships to students.

He said universities had relayed to him that interest in nursing studies was rising, with new enrolments at Cypriot universities rising from 98 in 2024 to 238 this year.

The committee will resume the debate next Thursday, when it hears from employers and the private hospitals association (Pasin).

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