Bulgaria's parliament on Wednesday approved the nomination of Stefan Konstantinov as health minister.
A total of 123 MPs in the 240-member legislature voted in favour, 58 were against and 12 sustained.
Konstantinov, a gynaecologist, deputy chairman of the managing board of the Bulgarian Doctors Union and member of the board of directors of the hospital in the southwestern town of Kyustendil, replaces Anna-Maria Borisova who resigned last week over failure to fulfil her duties.
Two days after Borisova resigned the Socialists and the ethnic Turks' party DPS filed a no-confidence motion in the cabinet over what they described as "the collapse of health care". The no-confidence vote will take place on Friday.