Greece's PM Tsipras says government will hire 4,500 personnel to bolster public health care

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says his government will bolster public health care in Greece with the hiring of 4,500 specialized staff and the abolition of a compulsory 5 euro ($5.4) fee for treatment at public hospitals.

Speaking at the Health Ministry Thursday, Tsipras said some reforms passed during the last few years as part of austerity measures required for Greece's international bailout were a "nuclear bomb at the foundations" of the health service and his government was working to repeal them.

Greece has been dependent on rescue loans worth 240 billion euros from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund since 2010. Tsipras was elected in January on promises to abolish the deeply resented bailout conditions, which included spending cuts and tax hikes.