The Government of Macedonia, at its session held on 24 February 2026, adopted a decision to merge the Cardiology Clinic and the State Clinic for Cardiac Surgery into a single healthcare institution — a unified tertiary centre for cardiovascular medicine.

Health Minister Azir Aliu outlined the benefits: "We are creating a unified tertiary centre for cardiovascular medicine that enables a continuous diagnostic and therapeutic process — from prevention and diagnostics through to interventional and surgical treatment." The merger will eliminate administrative duplication, optimise the organisational structure and reduce costs.

Savings achieved through the merger will be reinvested in the modernisation of medical equipment and staff education. The unified institution will ensure better use of existing capacity with an increased number of procedures, and patients will no longer need to be transferred between different institutions to receive complete cardiological and surgical care.

The merger also envisages the development of an integrated academic centre for specialist training and research programmes. This follows regional trends towards centralising specialised medical services, with the aim of improving quality and accessibility of healthcare.

The two clinics operated within the Clinical Centre of Macedonia and had previously collaborated closely on the more complex cardiology cases. Their merger into a single management unit will formalise that cooperation and ensure more efficient resource management.