After the announcement of a complete repurposing, the former symbol of the fight against the pandemic gets a new role from Monday - the Center for Palliative Care at the University Hospital of Serbia begins work, with an initial capacity of 50 beds
After several announcements and plans, kovid hospital in a Belgrade neighborhood Batajnica from Monday, July 28, he gets a new function.
Although previously talked about a complete conversion, for now the hospital is partially renovated. It becomes a Center for palliative care within the University Clinical Center of Serbia, but not a dialysis center, as previously announced.
Minister of HealthZlatibor Lončar in October of last year, he announced that this health facility, which was built at the time coronavirus pandemic, will become primarily a center for dialysis, and that it will also serve for palliative care, and that operating theaters will be used to reduce waiting lists.
So far, it is not known whether such a plan has been abandoned. "Vreme" sent questions to the Ministry of Health on that occasion, but the answers did not reach the publication of this text.
Center of Hope and Humanity
That the hospital that was "a symbol of the health system's victory over the covid pandemic" is now becoming a "center of hope and humanity", Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Pavlović Marković, Deputy Director of the Serbian University of Applied Sciences.
She pointed out that the newly founded center will function within the Pulmonology Clinic, thus closing the circle of comprehensive health care - from diagnostics to palliative care.
As she explained, the first patients will arrive on Monday, and the current capacity is 50 beds, with the possibility of expansion.
The hospital in the "Zemun Economy" military complex on Batajničko Road in Belgrade was opened at the beginning of December 2020. The hospital has a capacity of 200 intensive care units and about 800 places for semi-intensive care, a delivery room and an angio room.
Photo: Vreme/Katarina StevanovićThe Covid hospital in Batajnica was built on the site of a former military complex
Who will take care of the patients?
About patients on palliative care will be cared for by a multidisciplinary team made up of doctors of various specialties, mostly internists, then physiatrists, nurses, physiotherapists, as well as social workers and psychologists, writes RTS.
"If there is a need, we will consult all areas of medicine depending on the condition of the patients," Dr. Pavlović Marković explained to RTS.
According to earlier information, Serbia has few specialists in the field of palliative care. In 2023, there were only six of them, Danas wrote at the time.
"Vreme" asked the Institute for Public Health "Dr. Milan Jovanović Batut" how many specialized experts there are currently in this field, but the answers did not reach the publication of the text.
Who is the center intended for?
The center is not intended only for malignant patients, but also for patients with other serious, incurable diseases, stated the State Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Professor Ivana Stašević Karličić, RTS reports.
"The center for palliative care is an important step towards building a more accessible, humane and dignified health system. We want palliative care to be no longer just a right or a privilege, but a new standard," said Stašević-Karličić, RTS reports.
As explained, patients will be able to stay in the center for up to two weeks, in accordance with professional standards, and the goal is for them to continue living in the community after that period, but with a better quality of life.
Those patients will be referred to the Center for whom it is assessed by the Council of the Serbian Medical Center.
What is palliative care?
Palliative care is a comprehensive approach to treatment aimed at improving the quality of life of patients facing terminal illnesses, as well as providing support to their families.
Palliative care is provided to people suffering from advanced cancer, severe chronic diseases (eg heart or lung failure, Parkinson's disease, ALS, multiple sclerosis), dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and end-of-life conditions.
What happened to the remaining two hospitals?
During the corona virus pandemic in 2020 and 2021, Serbia got three new hospitals intended for seriously ill patients.
In just a few months, Belgrade, Kruševac and Novi Sad got new health complexes and, according to available data, about 130 million euros were invested in their construction and equipment.
Two of the three hospitals - in Batajnica and Kruševac - are now under lock and key.
Batajnica is unlocked on Monday.
Although it was announced in mid-summer 2023 that part of the Kruševac General Hospital would be moved to the premises of the Covid hospital in Kruševac, and that a special department for palliative care would be opened, nothing happened.
The last specialized covid hospital was built in Novi Sad, but the first was given a new purpose.
The health institution in the Novi Sad settlement of Mišeluk soon after the discharge of the last patients started accepting patients suffering from other diseases.
Today, dialysis is performed there and palliative care is provided. In the premises of this institution there is also a day hospital for diagnosis and rehabilitation of patients with musculoskeletal diseases, a department for mental health, and a clinic for urology.
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