The incident came to light on 10 August, when large pieces of plaster and other building materials broke away from the ceiling and fell onto the office floor. No one was working in the room at the time.

Dimitris Flytzanis, president of the Venizelio Hospital Employees’ Union, confirmed the prosecutor’s intervention to the newspaper Patris.

‘The fact that no employee was in that particular place at the time is not evidence of safety,’ the union said.

The Venizelio Hospital Employees’ Union statement in full:

‘Parts of the ceiling collapsed inside the office, while large pieces of plaster and other materials were found on the floor. The fact that no employee was in the area at the time is not evidence of safety. It was pure luck.

And luck cannot be a safety mechanism in a public hospital.

The incident follows a similar collapse of part of a ceiling in September 2025 and confirms in the clearest possible way what Venizelio employees have known for years:

The hospital’s main building faces a serious and steadily worsening infrastructure problem. The problem is not confined to this particular office. It concerns an ageing building, constructed in 1950, through which hundreds of employees, patients and visitors pass every day.

The renovation study that has already been prepared for the main building itself acknowledges the age and significant problems of the infrastructure. Among other things, it provides for mapping the existing structural framework and examining where structural reinforcement is required.

And this is the heart of the matter. We are no longer talking about a project that still needs to be designed. The project is ready. The studies have been completed.

The necessary procedures have moved forward. What is missing is the political decision to secure funding and begin implementation.

A severely understaffed Technical Service cannot be expected to manage a building complex that is decades old, with growing demands and problems that continue to accumulate.

Maintenance is not a luxury. It is a prerequisite for safe operation. Nor can the understaffing of the Technical Service be dealt with through temporary fixes and outsourcing every time a problem arises.

Permanent recruitment of specialised staff is needed, along with an immediate solution for contract workers who have been covering permanent needs for years.

Venizelio cannot wait another 20 years. This latest ceiling collapse must serve as the final warning.

Mr Minister,

The next time you come to Heraklion for another presentation or another celebration, do not forget your familiar glasses. This time, however, put them on so that you can see reality.’

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