What should you know about healthcare and emergencies in Cluj-Napoca?
Emergency number
112
Updated July 2026 · Sources cited: scjucluj.ro, ms.ro
Good to know
Good to Know
- Dial 112 for any emergency in Cluj-Napoca and across Romania — it replaces separate police/fire/ambulance numbers and works free from any phone, including foreign SIM cards on roaming.
- 112 operators can usually assist in English and other major languages, so language shouldn't be a barrier when calling.
- Make sure your phone's emergency alert settings are switched on so you can receive RO-ALERT cell-broadcast warnings (earthquakes, severe weather, etc.) — no app download is required for this, just a connection to a Romanian mobile network.
- If you accidentally dial 112, stay on the line and tell the operator it was a mistake rather than hanging up — this helps them clear the queue faster for real emergencies.
- Cluj-Napoca has 24-hour pharmacies and an emergency clinical hospital (Spitalul Clinic Județean de Urgență) for serious medical situations.
- For any life-threatening emergency, call 112 (Romania's single emergency number) — it dispatches SMURD ambulances/mobile ICU teams city-wide.
- Spitalul Clinic Județean de Urgență (Str. Clinicilor 3-5) is the main hospital to know as a nomad — it's the region's top-tier trauma/emergency referral center and is centrally located near Piața Cluj Arena/Zorilor.
- If traveling with kids, the dedicated children's emergency hospital on Calea Moților is a better first stop than the adult county hospital for pediatric emergencies.
- Private clinics (e.g., Regina Maria, MedLife, Medicover) exist in the center and offer urgent-care style walk-in services, but they generally do not have full trauma-level emergency rooms — for serious trauma, the public county hospital is the real destination.
- A brand-new 849-bed Regional Emergency Hospital for Cluj is under construction/EU-funded, intended to eventually replace/supplement the current UPU — but as of now it is not yet operational, so the existing hospitals above remain the actual options.
Recommended Official Apps
Apel 112
- Cost
- Free
- Purpose
- A 112 caller-location app for Android and iOS that helps emergency dispatchers pinpoint a caller's location faster; requires mobile data enabled to work.
- Publisher
- Special Telecommunications Service (STS)
RO-ALERT
- Cost
- Free / built into phone network alerts, not a separate app to download
- Purpose
- Romania's public cell-broadcast alert system that pushes warnings (earthquakes, floods, severe weather, other major incidents) directly to compatible phones in the affected area — no app install needed, works via cell broadcast technology as long as the phone is connected to a Romanian mobile network (including while roaming).
- Publisher
- Ministry of Internal Affairs / General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (IGSU), technical support from STS
Universal Emergency Number
- Number
- 112
- Language Support
- Operators can handle calls in several international languages in addition to Romanian, so foreign residents and visitors can call 112 directly.
- Average Answer Time
- Reported average answer time is around 4 seconds.
- Description
- Romania uses a single unified emergency number (112) for all emergency services rather than separate numbers per service. Calls are free from any landline or mobile phone, 24/7, including from a locked phone and from foreign SIM cards on roaming.
Covers
- Police
- Fire Brigade
- Ambulance
- SMURD (mobile emergency resuscitation & extrication unit)
- Gendarmerie
- Mountain Rescue (Salvamont)
Hospitals
Strada Clinicilor nr. 3-5, Cluj-Napoca
- Name
- Spitalul Clinic Județean de Urgență Cluj-Napoca (Cluj County Emergency Clinical Hospital)
- Hours
- Emergency Reception Unit (UPU-SMURD) open 24/7, every day of the year
- Trauma Designation
- Designated a rank I A regional emergency hospital ("spital regional de urgență I A") — the highest emergency-hospital tier in the Romanian system and the main trauma referral center for the entire North-West region
- Notes
- This is by far the largest and most capable public hospital in the city/region. It runs UPU-SMURD (the national emergency department + mobile ICU/rescue service), spread across a pavilion-style campus of over 33 buildings near the center. It treats adult patients (18+) with major medical-surgical emergencies, and has dedicated on-call rooms including Orthopedics-Trauma, ENT, and Ophthalmology.
Pediatric emergency unit operates 24/7
- Name
- Spitalul Clinic de Urgență pentru Copii Cluj-Napoca (Cluj-Napoca Emergency Clinical Hospital for Children)
- Address
- Calea Moților nr. 66-68, Cluj-Napoca
- Trauma Designation
- Not independently confirmed as a formal regional trauma-level designation, but functions as the city's dedicated pediatric emergency/trauma referral hospital
- Notes
- This is the go-to ER for anyone traveling with children in Cluj-Napoca. The hospital also runs a 24/7 pediatric medical-advice phone line (ALOPEDI) staffed by its own ER/pediatric doctors.
Strada General Traian Moșoiu nr. 22, Cluj-Napoca
- Name
- Spitalul Militar de Urgență "Dr. Constantin Papilian" (Dr. Constantin Papilian Military Emergency Hospital)
- Hours
- Not independently confirmed; military emergency hospitals in Romania typically maintain a 24/7 emergency reception capability
- Trauma Designation
- Operates as a military emergency hospital; also accepts civilian emergency patients, but a specific civilian trauma-center rank was not confirmed
- Notes
- Smaller than SCJU Cluj but listed among the city's official emergency hospitals; treats both military and civilian patients.
Spitalul Clinic Municipal Cluj-Napoca (Cluj-Napoca Municipal Clinical Hospital)
- Hours
- Not independently confirmed
- Address
- Strada Tăbăcarilor nr. 11, Cluj-Napoca
- Trauma Designation
- Reported to offer trauma services, though a specific official trauma-level rank could not be confirmed from primary sources
- Notes
- Included for completeness, but details on this hospital's emergency-room hours and exact trauma capability are thinner than for the county hospital — verify current status if this is your only option nearby.
Healthcare
- Overview
- Cluj-Napoca has well-developed public and private healthcare infrastructure. The city is home to major medical facilities and serves as a regional medical hub for Transylvania.
- Emergency Access
- Romania's emergency number is 112, which connects to all emergency services. Public hospital emergency departments are obliged to provide treatment to all patients regardless of insurance status.
- Private Healthcare
- Private hospital emergency units are available in Cluj-Napoca and may provide quicker access to care with more multilingual staff compared to public facilities.
Primary Facilities
Spitalul Clinic Județean De Urgență Cluj-Napoca (Emergency Clinical Hospital)
- Phone
- +40 264 597 852
- Type
- Public emergency hospital
- secretariat@scjucluj.ro
- Address
- Strada Clinicilor nr. 3-5
- Description
- The largest hospital unit with beds in Transylvania and one of Romania's largest hospitals. Operates as a rank I regional emergency hospital serving northwest Romania with 1,542 beds across all medical-surgical specialties and over 3,500 employees.
Spitalul Clinic Municipal Cluj-Napoca
- Type
- Public municipal hospital
- Description
- 24/7 emergency and ambulance services available.
Clinical Emergency Hospital for Children
- Type
- Public pediatric hospital
- Address
- Calea Moților 68
- Description
- Provides pediatric emergency care and houses the Regional Centre for Medical Genetics and National Reference Centre for Inherited Metabolic Disorders.
SMS Emergency Service
- Number
- 113
- Description
- An SMS-based emergency service intended for people with hearing or speech impairments, requiring advance registration.
Individual Service Notes
- Mountain Rescue
- Salvamont (mountain rescue) can also be reached via 112, and a supplementary direct contact number is sometimes published for hikers heading into nearby mountain areas.
- Police Fire Ambulance
- There is no separate direct-dial number recommended for police, fire, or ambulance in everyday use — all route through 112. Some older reference lists cite legacy direct numbers (e.g. for police, ambulance, fire), but these predate the unified 112 system and are not the current official channel.
Pharmacies
- Language
- In major urban centers like Cluj-Napoca, pharmacists commonly speak English or other foreign languages.
- Overview
- Cluj-Napoca has an extensive pharmacy network with outlets on virtually every main shopping street, identified by the green cross sign. Over 114 verified pharmacies operate in the city.
- Identification
- Pharmacies are called 'farmacie' in Romanian and display a green cross on white background, the standard European pharmacy symbol.
- Standard Hours
- Monday through Friday 08:00–20:00
- Temporary Access
- Pharmacy Museum (Farmacie) is located at Piața Unirii 28, not a functioning pharmacy but a historical museum open to visitors.
- Independent Pharmacies
- Many independent pharmacies also operate throughout the city.
Medications
- Availability
- The vast majority of everyday prescription and over-the-counter medicines are available in Romanian pharmacies. However, products may be sold under different trade names than those familiar in other countries.
- Prescriptions
- Prescriptions are valid for up to three months. Many medications require a prescription.
- Cost For Insured
- Those enrolled in Romania's state health insurance (CNAS) pay only modest co-payments for prescription medicines, depending on the medicine's reimbursement category.
- Cost For Uninsured
- Without state insurance, you pay full retail prices for medications.
Pharmacy Chains
- Catena
- Dr. Max
- Help Net
- Sensiblu
- Dona
AI-generated estimateData refreshed July 2026
Sources cited for this category
These are the sources cited in this emergencies research for this city. Individual figures may not each trace to one of them.
More About Cluj-Napoca
Data last updated July 2026 · Verify anything important.