The "Borka Taleski" General Hospital in Prilep has acquired two new pieces of equipment - a digital X-ray machine purchased from its own funds for 9.3 million denars (around 140,000 euros) and a video-EEG lab for children, the first of its kind outside Skopje, received as a donation worth 1.7 million denars.

The digital X-ray replaces an outdated analogue machine - and means patients from Prilep will no longer have to go to private clinics for high-quality scans. "Through continuous modernisation of equipment, staff and infrastructure, the hospital is keeping up with contemporary European standards in healthcare," said director Kire Jonoski.

The video-EEG lab is particularly notable. It's the first such device in Macedonia outside the Skopje children's clinics for neurological conditions - meaning that up to now, every child from Prilep, Bitola, Kičevo or Veles with epilepsy or a similar neurological problem had to wait for an appointment in Skopje. Now it's available locally. According to Dr. Gabriela Tavčisoka, paediatric neurologist, this signals "regional leadership in neuropaediatrics".

Numbers for the other side: the hospital has infrastructure that's over 40 years old, but in the past few years has invested over 50 million denars in new equipment through donations and its own funds. Its debt has dropped from 200 to 109 million denars. In other words - when a director decides to manage money instead of waiting for a budget from Skopje, and when a private-sector donation from a company like VIK supplies a modern machine, regional hospitals in Macedonia show that functioning isn't always purely a question of state investment.

For people in the region, this is a quiet win. But also a reminder: why do we always wait for a private donation before getting a healthcare service the EU treats as a basic right?