ATHENS – Battered by years of budget cuts during a 2010-18 economic and austerity crisis that left without critical equipment, enough staff – and even toilet paper – Greece’s hospitals are being reviewed by the World Health Organization.

That’s being done to improve health care in Europe, the WHO team with its office in Athens and Greece’s Ministry of Health to assess the state of hospitals in the country, where services can vary significantly.

The WHO said it will give the ministry the benefit of additional expertise in the field especially during the waning COVID-19 pandemic, during which some hospitals were set aside to deal only with coronavirus cases and intubation.

The health crisis showed gaps in health care, particularly in Greece, which has a reputation for superior physicians and sub-par conditions in hospitals where patients often hire private nurses while they’re being treated.