The quality of staff in Romanian healthcare is good and the risk of being infected with hepatitis or AIDS in blood transfusions is extremely low. As for the good hospitals, they’re on par with any other quality hospital in Europe. Privately held clinics or hospitals usually have better services than the publicly owned ones. Food served in public hospitals won’t kill you, but it is so tasteless that it won’t delight you either.

Romanians usually give “tips” (or, to be blunt, bribes) to doctors for most of the medical services they receive, be they small or large services, even though the doctors or nurses don’t request them, for fear that a lack of incentives (many doctors are paid badly) might deter them to do their best job, although this usually isn’t the case. Stopping the bribes in the medical system is sort of a catch 22 situation for Romanians. Since you’re not a native though, you shouldn’t have such problems and you should not give any “tips” as they won’t make any difference for you.

If you have a severe medical issue, then your health insurance might not be able to cover it and you’ll be forced to pay for the services you’re going to recieve at prices not as big as in Western Europe, but big enough to make a dent in your wallet.

If you plan to get your teeth fixed while in Romania, then you’d be better off if you could ask your Romanian buddies or a native to reffer you to a quality dental clinic rather than opening the yellow pages and try your luck. Most private clinics are of excellent quality and tourism for dental services is on the rise. In case of dental emergencies we recommend not, under any circumstances, to appeal to the services of the emergency staff in public hospitals.