sentences:  Originally a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), she joined the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) in 1994.Elected in the Czech election of 1996 and 1998 to the Chamber of Deputies, she served on the Health committee, first as a member and then starting after her reelection in 2002, as chairwoman.In 2004 in the government of Stanislav Gross, she was appointed as Minister of Health, succeeding Jozef Kubinyi.