A private clinic in northern Greece allegedly operated an oncology unit without the required authorization, while inspectors also found serious staffing deficiencies and indications that inaccurate information may have been submitted to the country’s National Organization for Health Care Services Provision (EOPYY) for reimbursement of patient hospitalizations.
The findings were included in a report following an inspection by the National Transparency Authority (EAD).
The findings come amid intensified scrutiny of private clinics and medical facilities following the investigation into the circumstances surrounding pop star Giorgos Mazonakis’ collapse – and subsequent death inside an upscale Athens medical practice. The case has prompted broader scrutiny of the operation and oversight of private medical facilities.
The EAD inspection, carried out following a complaint, found that the clinic was operating a fully equipped oncology unit that was not included in its current operating license.
The unit was operating with a single physician, a pulmonologist specializing in lung oncology, who had been given office space by the clinic without a written contract. The clinic also lacked written employment agreements with doctors serving as heads of departments and had not concluded written contracts with other doctors working at the facility, contrary to legal requirements.
Inspectors found insufficient nursing staff and no personnel in certain required specialties, including a radiologist. The clinic also did not have an operating intensive care unit (ICU), although one was required under the terms of its establishment and operating license.
The investigation also examined the activities of the doctor overseeing the unauthorized oncology unit. According to the EAD, he had been prescribing chemotherapy drugs to his patients from the clinic since 2022 and subsequently administering them in the unauthorized oncology unit, while clinic staff prepared the drugs.
Patients of the doctor were admitted to the clinic for short stays on the orders of another clinic doctor. The diagnoses recorded for those admissions did not concern forms of malignancy, yet specific chemotherapy drugs were administered during their hospitalization.
The authority said these findings constituted indications that inaccurate information may have been submitted to EOPYY to obtain reimbursement for the patients’ hospitalizations. The inspection report was therefore forwarded to EOPYY for any action it considers necessary regarding the accuracy of the information submitted by the clinic.
The clinic had already been inspected in 2025 by the relevant regional committee overseeing private clinics, which found that it lacked sufficient nursing staff for safe operation. The committee subsequently recommended permanently shutting the clinic and revoking its operating license.
The authority report stated, however, that the regional inspection did not identify or record the additional findings uncovered by its own investigation, including the unauthorized oncology unit.
The authority further found that the competent regional public health directorate had not permanently closed the clinic despite the committee’s recommendation and the withdrawal of its certificate of good operation earlier in 2026.
EAD has recommended that the regional authorities permanently close the clinic and revoke its establishment and operating license, impose administrative sanctions and issue guidance to private clinics and inspection committees on compliance with the law.
The inspection report has also been forwarded to the Athens Court of Appeals chief prosecutor for investigation of any potential criminal liability, to EOPYY over the accuracy of information submitted for reimbursement of patient hospitalizations and to the relevant medical association for investigation of any possible disciplinary liability.
