by InTrieste
Interviews: Massimiliano Fedriga, Governor of Friuli Venezia Giulia; Roberto Di Lenarda, Rector of the University of Trieste; Riccardo Riccardi, FVG Health Councilor
The region of Friuli Venezia Giulia has announced a comprehensive pay raise package for healthcare workers, aimed at strengthening its public health system and addressing staff shortages in critical areas. The €40 million ($43 million) agreement, reached with healthcare unions, will provide economic incentives to doctors, nurses, technicians, and support staff across the region.
FVG governor Massimiliano Fedriga and Health Councilor Riccardo Riccardi outlined the measures during a press conference Friday in Trieste, alongside health authority leaders and Stefano Dorbolò, Director General of the Regional Health Coordination Agency (ARCS). The plan is designed not only to boost salaries but also to improve staff retention and recruitment—especially in high-strain departments like emergency care.
“The agreement allows us to consolidate our healthcare system,” said governor Fedriga. “By targeting incentives where they are most needed, we aim to support those working in the most challenging conditions.”
The region is investing €36.1 million for 2025 alone, of which €27 million will go toward regional incentive policies and €6.1 million from national healthcare contracts. Additional resources will be used for benefits such as back pay for doctors dating to 2022. The package has received broad backing: all public healthcare worker unions and 85% of medical management unions have signed on.
Health Councilor Riccardi emphasized that the strategy recognizes the responsibilities across all roles in the healthcare system. “This is a strategy that rewards the entire workforce, taking into account the varying degrees of responsibility,” he said.
In concrete terms, emergency room nurses will see gross monthly increases ranging from €640 to €730, while social health workers will receive around €360 more per month. The raises reflect a workload of roughly 250 working days per year, including 50 night shifts and 77 on-call shifts. Doctors in emergency and pediatric units, along with those in observation wards, will receive gross monthly raises of approximately €1,800 starting next year.
The initiative comes amid growing concern over staffing shortages in Italy’s public healthcare sector. In an exclusive interview, Professor Roberto Di Lenarda, Rector of the University of Trieste and a leading figure in medical academia, warned that vital areas of hospital care are becoming increasingly understaffed.
“After completing their degrees, many doctors choose narrow specializations, leaving key departments like first aid, internal medicine, and general surgery dangerously short on personnel,” said Di Lenarda, who also heads the Maxillofacial Surgery and Odontostomatology Clinic at Trieste’s public hospital and serves as President of the Italian Association of Dental Academic Faculty.
“It’s a complex issue that requires more than just economic solutions,” he said. “We need to make these essential specializations more attractive and rethink how we train and motivate the next generation of medical professionals.”
While the pay raise package represents a significant step forward, both regional officials and academic leaders agree that resolving Italy’s healthcare staffing crisis will require long-term investment, structural reform, and sustained collaboration between institutions.
