David Kasal, M.D., the chief of medicine of Chrudim hospital’s Children’s and neonatal ward and M.P. for ANO, met me after his night shift. We talked about babies, the Chamber, even summertime, and he never once showed a sign of fatigue.
You are in charge of all the professional medical work being done in inpatient care as well as general and specialized outpatient units of the children’s and neonatal ward at your hospital. Do you ever feel like some of the more difficult cases are too much?
We are your-run-of-the mill children’s and neonatal ward in a district hospital. Our out- and inpatient units can treat the majority of young patients. Metaphorically speaking, we separate the wheat from the chaff. We treat a wide spectrum of diseases that we can manage, and the moment the illness turns out to be more serious and requires special care we send the children to the University Hospital Hradec Kralové.
A lot of the time, healthcare is about money. How do you deal with financial hardships?
Before we were merged with four other hospitals in our region (Pilsen region) and made into one big conglomerate, I used to have sponsors and benefactors of different units. They would sponsor the computer equipment in the hospital for instance. It can take up to a year to put together a donation agreement, however. So I decided to help myself. I bought a suction pump for the newborns with my own money, as well as other equipment for the neonatal and children’s ward. Also with my own resources, I helped our hospital stock up on face masks worth a hundred and sixty thousand Crowns.
Looking at your resume, I thinking that you cannot possibly combine all of these different positions. Wouldn’t it be better to just be a chief of medicine?
It may seem that way. For me, there are three key positions – chief of medicine, board member of the VZP (General Health Insurance Company), and M.P. Thanks to this unique blend I have an overview of the entire healthcare system. I do the fieldwork in the hospital, input from there helps me improve the workings of the health insurance company that pays healthcare facilities for health services rendered, and I try to look after the laws in the Chamber of Deputies in Prague. I am not easy to fool because I know how things are done in practice. Another upside is strictly practical. I spend three weeks in the hospital as chief of medicine and three weeks in Prague as an M.P. and official. I do not feel burnt out thanks to that.
The difference is plain to see. You have to be very tender around babies, but then in the Chamber, you have to play hardball.
True. I enjoy medicine to the fullest, and it makes me happy when a three-month-old baby looks at me with a huge grin, and its mother says, “What’s your secret? Not even when he sees his dad does he smile so much!” (laughs) I guess I have something about me that calms those kiddos down. It feels natural, I don’t really think about it that much. It is very different in the Chamber, though, that is where I have to play hardball, keep my emotions in check, and arguments at the ready. I always have to put myself out there and be persuasive, resolute, and sometimes even forceful in my decisions.
While we’re at it, what are some of your qualities? Can you give us a self-evaluation?
I work hard, bordering on workaholism. I am diligent, meticulous, and I try to be fair and just. I know how to praise my employees, and even give them a bonus when they deserve it. I also know that I can be quite disagreeable in certain situations. Especially when it comes to repeatedly breaking the rules or not following procedures at work. I have one quality that is unpleasant in politicians – I have a rather good memory.
You do allergological consultations. A lot of people with allergies are saying that face masks have alleviated or completely removed their symptoms of hay fever. Is that possible?
Not only that. At the very beginning, I said that thanks to these pandemic safety measures we will not even have the regular flu epidemic. And there really wasn’t one. Where could it come from when people were wearing masks and disinfecting their hands? There was no way for the flu to spread. Allergies are a similar case, the pollen just can’t get to your membranes. I am truly seeing a decrease in people with hay fever, or at least a decrease in the issues they are having with it. Simply put, after sensibilisation (allergen contact) your cells remember that something “bothered” you and that there was a disproportionate reaction to this substance. When you next encounter the allergen, the reaction is repeated and can be even stronger. But a face mask or a respirator is capable of blocking pollen from getting to your respiratory system at all, which can lead to full remission of your allergic reactions! We are still a part of nature and it influences us the same as we do it. By the way, the pandemic also put a stop to other things, such as secret trysts (laughs) And it also showed us holes in certain laws.
Laws are a nice segue, they are made in the Chamber where changes are imminent, come autumn. What are your views on ANO’s activities throughout the past four years?
I feel that we cannot let our views of the current government be clouded by the pandemic. It is being blamed for things left and right, perhaps even for the existence of the coronavirus. Some say that the measures we took were too mild while others say the exact opposite. But these were conditions that none of us have ever faced before. I think that despite all the hardships that came during the pandemic, the Czech people live better lives now. The super-gross wage was abolished, for instance, bringing more money to the people. We had teachers in mind too, they finally have the kind of standing they deserve. We also took care of the seniors, whose pensions saw a substantial increase. The self-employed can make use of the flat-rate tax as of 2021, saving them time on filing their tax returns and social security and health insurance forms. Digitalization has been kickstarted in a lot of areas in the Czech Republic. We, as ANO, certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. I believe that the Czech people will appreciate this.
What do you think about the two coalitions entering the elections together? Could they mean stability and prosperity for our country in case they win?
We have seen this before. When two big coalitions enter the elections, it is to try and beat ANO at all costs. Seeing as I have a pretty good inside view of these parties as an M.P., I am afraid stability would not be the outcome were they to win. I cannot imagine these five parties forming a government, there are too many conflicting ideas.
What is your personal vision going into the elections?
I plan to make use of my experience, knowledge, and connections in healthcare to finalize the digitalization of the VZP and lay the groundwork for telemedicine. During this epidemic, it has come to light that healthcare needs to be governed centrally by health insurance companies and all healthcare facilities need to be as interconnected as possible through secure digitalization. I intend to finalise my research regarding children with autistic spectrum disorders as well as patients with rare diseases, whom I’ve been working with for the past seven years. There are a lot of issues in healthcare, especially in these tense times, that will require systemic solutions in the near future. I would also like to commit to making systemic changes in the social and health care interface, meaning a simplification and subsequent merging of these two areas. I would do so using materials I have helped develop during the last three years.
CV BOX
David Kasal M.D., (born January 1, 1969, in Chrudim) is a medical doctor and M.P. for the ANO 2011 movement.
He graduated from the Army doctor’s academy of J.E. Purkyně, in general medicine, and later transferred to the Charles University’s Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové. He has a second-degree postgraduate certificate in paediatrics.
In 2017 and 2018, he took the ADVANCE Healthcare management institute’s exclusive course Master of Healthcare Administration, studying healthcare management, economics, and law.
He has been working in the Chrudim hospital for twenty-eight years, starting as a physician in the children’s ward. Since 2004, he has been the chief of medicine of the Children’s and neonatal ward. He is a member of the VZP managing board as well as the Government Board for Persons with Disabilities.
He has been an M.P. since 2013, he was also the deputy chairman of the Committee on Health Care until 2017, and he has been working as chairman of the Subcommittee on Preventative and Pre-hospital Care and Patient’s Rights.
He is going on 11 years as a representative of Chrudim and had also been a councilman from 2010 to 2012..
He is divorced and has four children.
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