They were built at an extreme speed, tens of billions of dinars were invested in them, and two out of three are locked today
A wire fence around a large complex of white, red and blue buildings, a hand-held concrete mixer visible through the glass door of the building above which is written "Official Entrance". There is also a construction cart in front, dozens of half-full sacks with scattered sand next to them.
This is the picture we find in mid-January 2025 before the former covid by a hospital in the Belgrade neighborhood of Batajnica.
As we approach the lowered ramp at the entrance to the complex, a short man in a black jacket steps out of the house.
You can't go behind the lowered ramp, he tells us.
"The works are in progress, they will probably move the dialysis here," he says.
Such announcements came earlier from the authorities, and the last in a series at the end of October 2024.
During the pandemic corona virus In 2020 and 2021, Serbia got three new hospitals for seriously ill patients with extreme speed.
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 under lock and key today.
Is Batajnica becoming a dialysis center in Belgrade?
A security guard who is still guarding the building on Batajničko Road witnessed more than four years ago with significantly different images.
From December 2020 to June 2023, thousands of seriously infected patients passed through the complex.
"The biggest crowd was there," he says, pointing to the intensive care building.
Today, he is accompanied by two dogs. One is friendly, the other is scared.
"She's almost here." Someone left her, so we adopted her", the man tells us, pointing to a young black mixed breed female.
The white-haired man does not allow us to cross the ramp, but nods in the affirmative when asked if we can take a few photos from the outside of the fence.
The last patient from this facility, built on the site of a former military facility, was discharged in June 2023. Several times since then, it has been heard that the hospital will receive a new purpose.
The last in a series of announcements came at the end of October 2024, when Zlatibor Lončar, Minister of Health in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, said that it would become a dialysis center, that palliative care would be provided within the hospital, as well as operations halls to reduce waiting lists.
Almost three months have passed since this announcement, and there is no new news about the relocation of the hospital.
Officials from the Ministry of Health did not respond to "Vremena"'s inquiry about when the hospital will receive a new purpose, what works are in progress, how much money will be invested, and what will happen to the equipment that is currently in the hospital.
Miroslav Đerlek, State Secretary in the Ministry of Health, announced earlier that part of the respirators will be given to other institutions that have outdated devices, and that part will be kept in case of a new respiratory epidemic.
The Covid hospital in Batajnica was built in the midst of the corona virus pandemic. Construction began on August 1, 2020, and the first patients were treated at the beginning of December of the same year.
After more than 900 days of work and about 24.000 patients who passed through this institution being treated for the corona virus, from June 2023 until today the hospital has been standing without any purpose.
Kruševac under question mark
Shortly after Belgrade, in December 2020, at a time when more than 9.500 patients with the corona virus were lying in hospitals in Serbia, Kruševac also got a specialized hospital for those purposes.
About 38 million euros were invested in it, and it has been closed since June 2023.
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.
Officials from the Ministry of Health did not respond to our inquiry when the hospital will be repurposed and what its future purpose will be, and what will happen to the equipment.
Novi Sad space shuttle medicine
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.
It was built for four months and treated the first covid patients at the beginning of September 2021.
The Covid hospital ceased to exist in June 2023 when the last patient was discharged.
The hospital was soon given a new purpose, and today it performs dialysis and provides palliative care. 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.
An example for others
For the adaptation of the hospital in Mišeluk, apart from minor adaptations and hygiene works such as painting the rooms, no large investments were needed, according to the University Clinical Center of Vojvodina for "Vreme".
"All departments are aligned with the new needs, while the existing medical equipment that was procured for covid patients is now being used in the new treatment conditions." This ensures the continuity of medical services and reduces the costs of investing in new equipment", the answer states.
Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of Serbia at the time of the corona virus pandemic, and today the Speaker of the National Assembly, said during the opening of this covid hospital in September 2021 that 3,9 billion dinars were invested in the construction, and about 17 million euros in equipment, and that is more modern in terms of equipment than the previous two hospitals that were opened in Batajnica and Kruševac.
The hospital has three slats, covers an area of 19.500 square meters, has 624 beds, two operating rooms, five outpatient clinics, two x-rays, two scanners, an angio room, departments with ultrasound, endoscopy and eight dialysis places, it was said at the opening of the hospital.
"This is space shuttle medicine, something we've never had." This is something we can all envy. This is something we've been dreaming of. Because working in a health center like this is a big challenge," said Zoran Gojković, the provincial secretary of health, during the opening of the hospital.
The corona virus pandemic, which stopped the world five years ago, has claimed more than seven million lives, according to data from the World Health Organization.
More than 2023 people died of corona in Serbia, according to the latest available data of that organization from 18.000.
After more than 19 months, the park in the center of Belgrade is once again available to everyone. But memories remain of a space where special rules applied, into which not all citizens and not all journalists could enter. And that must not be forgotten
The Council of the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media (REM) is holding a meeting on Tuesday, where, among other things, TV Informer will be discussed. Dragan J. Vučićević claims that the police came to detain him and thus prevent him from attending that session
Rain and cloudy weather will mark today in Serbia, but the weather conditions will change already in the second half of the week. On Thursday and Friday, the temperature will reach 23 degrees in some cities
The Temple of St. Sava in Vračar does not have a valid use permit, the Republic Agency for Spatial Planning and Urbanism confirmed in response to Insider's questions. The facility has a building permit and approval for the use of the building structure, but the procedure for obtaining the use permit has not been completed
Citizens' assemblies in Belgrade are seeking access to the premises of local communities, which have served as party branches of the SNS for years. At Zvezdara, they got the key, held the first meeting, and then found the lock changed
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Time explores: The construction of the St. Sava Temple
Did the money paid by the Government to SPC end up in Moscow through Alta Bank? subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
