Health Programme: EUR 185 million to equip the major burns centres in Timișoara and Târgu Mureș

On 2 September 2026, the Health Programme opened call PS/1194 for equipping burns and major burns centres. The budget is 185 million euro, after the allocation was increased from 25.18 million euro during the public consultation. The call is not open to all hospitals: only public healthcare units that are building, or have built, their burns centres with the IBRD loan from the World Bank can apply, namely the county emergency hospitals in Timișoara and Târgu Mureș. Applications must be submitted in MySMIS2021 by 30 October 2026, 14:30.

In brief

• Programme: Health Programme 2021–2027, Priority 3, specific objective RSO4.5 (ERDF), call PS/1194/PS_P3/OP4/RSO4.5/PS_P3_RSO4.5_A7
• Authority: the Managing Authority for the Health Programme, within the Ministry of Investments and European Projects
• Beneficiaries: public healthcare units that are building, or have built, burns and major burns centres with the IBRD loan. The guide names the Pius Brînzeu County Clinical Emergency Hospital in Timișoara and the County Clinical Emergency Hospital in Târgu Mureș
• Total budget: 185 million euro (compared with 25.18 million euro in the version put out for consultation)
• Indirect costs: flat rate of up to 1% of eligible direct costs
• Submission period: 2 September 2026, 17:00 – 30 October 2026, 14:30, in MySMIS2021
• Status: call open, with the final guide published after the consultation held from 24 July to 14 August 2026

Who can apply?

Following the consultation, the eligibility condition was reworded. Applicants may be "public healthcare units that are developing/have developed, under the IBRD loan agreement, the structures provided for in Article 2(a) of Order of the Minister of Health no. 476/2017", the order that regulates the structures for caring for burns patients. The loan is Agreement no. 9253-RO, ratified by Law no. 298/2021.

The new wording helps hospitals whose burns centre is not yet operational. The unit does not need to have the centre in its approved organisational structure when it submits the application. The request came from the hospital in Târgu Mureș, which explained that the new building cannot be authorised without equipment, and that the order on the hospital's structure only comes afterwards.

In practice, this is a dedicated call. Other hospitals, town halls, county councils and private companies are not eligible applicants.

What is funded and what is not

The call funds medical equipment, apparatus and furniture, non-medical furniture and other items needed for the burns and major burns centres to operate. It is also possible to equip the structures that care for critical patients and serve these centres, for example ICUs, operating theatres, emergency departments (UPU) and oxygen stations. A few rules from the guide, confirmed in the consultation summary:

• the project cannot equip only the support structures; it must also include equipment for the burns centre itself;
• consumables are eligible only as a "starter kit" for installation, calibration, testing and commissioning, for up to 3 months;
• extended maintenance is eligible only if it is part of the equipment supply contract. Service and upgrade services after the project ends are not eligible;
• staff training and exchanges of experience are not eligible, as they are ESF+-type activities. The authority states that training in the care of burns patients is provided through the national project PROTEGO (SMIS code 348413).

In the version put out for consultation, the minimum target for result indicator 01PSR10 ("annual number of users") was 100 people per year for a project. After the consultation, Annex 2 was updated so that the users of all the supported support structures can be counted, not only those of the major burns centre. The authority states that the project-level target "has been reconsidered", so the new value must be checked in the final guide.

Why did the budget increase from 25 to 185 million euro?

According to the approved summary, the Ministry of Health requested the increase by letter of 27 July 2026. With 25.18 million euro per call and a maximum of 12,589,058.67 euro per project, the amount did not cover equipping the two centres, estimated at roughly 185 million euro in total. The authority does not state the new maximum value per project in this document. It must be checked in the final guide in the archive published on the call page.

For Târgu Mureș, the hospital estimates the equipment for the new building at 430,643,481 lei excluding VAT. The building, constructed with IBRD funds, cost 233,962,000 lei excluding VAT and is expected to be commissioned by 31 December 2026. The hospital launched procurement with a suspensive clause: 13 lots from 5 procedures have already been awarded, worth 291,087,643.75 lei excluding VAT.

What this means for your business

Our recommendation: if you represent an SME, a town hall or another hospital, this call does not concern you as an applicant. It is not worth preparing a funding application. For health investments, follow the other calls under the Health Programme and the regional programmes.

For medical equipment suppliers, the opportunity is limited. In Târgu Mureș, most of the procurement has already been awarded or is under evaluation. The remaining lots and any procedures by the Timișoara hospital are published in SEAP. Under this call, only equipment, maintenance included in the supply contract and consumables for up to 3 months are eligible.

For hospitals that will apply to equipment calls in the future, the call shows two things. The authority consistently rejects training, post-project servicing and routine consumables, and indirect costs can be capped well below 7%. The budget must be built from the outset without them.

Frequently asked questions

Can any public hospital with a burns unit apply?

No. The final guide limits eligibility to public healthcare units that are developing, or have developed, their burns and major burns centres through the IBRD loan 9253-RO. The guide names those in Timișoara and Târgu Mureș.

Until when can the funding application be submitted?

By 30 October 2026, 14:30, in MySMIS2021. Submission has been open since 2 September 2026, 17:00.

Can the training of doctors for the new centre be funded?

Not through this call, which is funded from the ERDF. The managing authority directs staff training to the national project PROTEGO, funded from the ESF+.

How high can indirect costs be?

Up to 1% of the value of eligible direct costs, as a flat rate. Values between 0 and 1% are permitted. In the version put out for consultation, the ceiling was 7%.

Official sources

• MIPE – page of call PS/1194 "Investments in the public infrastructure of burns/major burns centres – equipment" (guide and annexes)
• Summary of the observations received in the public consultation on the guide (PDF)
• EU funding opportunities – announcement of the guide's launch

Information checked on 28 September 2026. Conditions may be amended by the managing authority — check the guide in force before submitting.