2019 RETROSPECTIVE – Investments in HEALTH CARE most interesting to eKapija users

As last year, we end our series of retrospectives with the most read articles about health care.

Being one of the nations with the highest average age in Europe, unfortunately, it's no wonder that the citizens of Serbia want to know how and where state money is spent on what should be the most important, namely, clinical centers and hospitals. As long as we spend so much time there, they should at least be comfortable and look good.

The list of the chronic diseases of Serbia's healthcare system is as long as the queues in front of embassies, and the leaving of medical nurses and doctors to Germany drew a lot of attention last year, but nothing was done to stop it.

Some also wondered where the 20% of the budget meant for healthcare left. So did we.

In an article recently published on eKapija, we checked how far the works on the most important healthcare projects had progressed. The Public Investment Management Office told us that around RSD 10.33 billion had been set aside for the reconstruction of 19 healthcare facilities and that the reconstruction of 15 facilities was being prepared as well, with the works slated to begin in 2020.

Among the important projects in the field of healthcare is the full reconstruction of the Military-Medical Academy, worth EUR 75 million, which will be realized thanks to the cooperation with the German development bank.

The construction of the long-awaited children's clinic Tirsova 2 has also been announced for 2020. As eKapija wanted to include the laying of the foundation stone for this facility in its calendar of events, we asked the City of Belgrade when the works should start exactly, but have not received an answer yet.

Here's what's been done, announced, started, or promised:

The first spot on our list features the reconstruction of the Clinical Center of Vojvodina. So far, the reconstruction of four clinics has been completed, and works are being carried out on a total of seven clinics at the moment, the Provincial Government told eKapija. The major works expected for 2020 pertain to the units of the B and the C block.

The project entails the construction of a new facility of 33,275.84 m2. The facility will have five floors and will feature a heated passage between Unit B and the Polyclinic and the Internal Medical Unit, as well as Unit A, where the Emergency Unit is located. The projected number of operating rooms is 16, and the ground floor will feature diagnostics facilities, a sterilization section, a laboratory and a nuclear medicine unit, and the capacity will be 348 beds.

The construction of the B and the C block of the Clinical Center of Vojvodina is financed by the European Investment Bank, and the construction works are worth EUR 32.6 million.

The second spot belongs to the reconstruction of the Emergency Service in Belgrade.

After more than half a century, this health institution should get a new look. The beginning of the works, as eKapija wrote, was announced for early 2020. We wanted to check when the repair of this facility and the construction of a new one could be expected, but the City of Belgrade has not yet answered these questions.

The plan says that an extension of more than 6,000 m2 is expected, which will make for a modern health complex on more than 8,000 m2 together with the existing facilities.

The third most read topic in the field of healthcare is the reconstruction of the Clinical Center of Serbia, which started in late 2018.

According to the announcements, when all the works are completed, Serbia will get a modern health institution. In addition to a full reconstruction and construction of new facilities, the Clinical Center of Serbia will feature, among other things, a new Emergency Center, a renovated Polyclinic, expanded labs, 930 hospital beds, 200 beds in intensive care units and 30 operating rooms. Around EUR 110 million will be invested in the project.

Rough works on the new tower have been completed so far, and the deadline for the completion of the works on the Clinical Center of Serbia is August 6, 2021, after which the future polyclinic should move to the entirely new, modern premises, so that the second phase of the works on this facility could begin.

Our readers' attention was also drawn by the reconstruction of the General Hospital in Gornji Milanovac, which placed fourth. The first phase of the full reconstruction of the General Hospital is close to completion and the beginning of the second one is expected. The investment of RSD 1.5 billion is financed by the Government of Serbia through the Public Investment Management Office, whereas the local self-government provided more than RSD 40 million for the project documentation.

The second phase entails reconstruction within the facilities itself, adapted to new technological solutions in line with the modern technology for this type of hospital, as explained by the designer, Zorica Sretenovic.

The full reconstruction will entail the replacement of the worn out medical equipment.

Our staff and our readers wanted to know when the beginning of the new Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic “Narodni Front” in Bezanijska Kosa can be expected, and this project placed fifth.

The Public Investment Management Office, which is in charge of this project, told eKapija that the preparation of the planning documents was close to completion and that the preparation of the project-technical documentation for the construction of a whole new facility of this institution would begin in 2020.

– Once the works are completed, the institution will be moved to a new location (Bezanijska Kosa). The plan is for the construction of the new facility to begin by the end of 2020. In the meantime, the equipment will be procured for this institution so that the quality of the healthcare service would be improved considerably under the given conditions. The value of the procurement, which is in progress, has been estimated at EUR 5.5 million – the Office said.

The sixth spot belongs to the opening of the Vitae Residence Nursing Home in Strumicka Street in Belgrade.

This facility, whose construction is worth EUR 3 million, will be able to accommodate 46 users. The building has a basement and four floors. On an area of 1,600 m2, the home takes up 1,000 m2, whereas the purpose of the remaining space is yet to be set.

The investor, businessman and philanthropist Milivoje Nikolic, is the director of FSG Group, which operates in the territory of Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. He had donated a part of his property for the raising of the first Orthodox church in Botswana.

In the seventh place is the news that pharmacy chain BENU of the German company Phoenix is the new concessionaire of “Apoteke Novi Sad”. The latter's pharmacies will be managed by BENU for the next 15 years, and the German company will also be obliged to take in at least 46 of the Novi Sad-based company's employees.

The German company's offer was worth more than EUR 4.2 million, which is more than the city asked for, said the mayor of Novi Sad, Milos Vucevic.

The eighth spot belongs to the reconstruction and extension of Selters Banja.

The Special Hospital for Internal Diseases “Selters Banja” in Mladenovac, opened the public procurement procedure for the preparation of the project-technical documentation for the reconstruction, repair and extension of the hospital building, along with the obtaining of the building permit, in November 2019. The works will be carried out in seven phases, based on which the project documentation is to be planned.

The Special Hospital for Internal Diseases in Mladenovac was initially raised as a facility for the treatment of tuberculosis patients, but has specialized for internal medicine over time.

In the ninth spot is the reconstruction of a part of the complex of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Belgrade and the construction of a whole new facility. As eKapija recently wrote, according to the plan, the repair of the existing facility should begin in early February.

– At the moment, the Urban Project is being prepared for the location of the new building of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, where the entire clinic is to be moved. Considering that the planning documents are only just being prepared and that the construction therefore cannot start before the autumn of 2021 or finished before the end of 2023, and that the clinic needs to operate under adequate conditions in the meantime, a decision was made for the repair of a part of the complex of the Clinic to be carried out and for the Clinic's operations to then move to the reconstructed facilities.

In the future, after the clinic is moved, the repaired facilities of the total gross area of 7,573 m2, envisaged within the first phase of the works, can be used for other compatible purposes within the operations of the Clinical Center. The second phase entails the construction of a whole new facility, where the entire clinic is to be moved, and it is currently located in six facilities. The area of the new facility will be around 11,500 m2 – the Office said.

Finally, in the tenth spot is the news that the pharmaceutical company AbelaPharm, a regional leader in the production and distribution of diet supplements, took over the pharmaceutical factory in Stari Banovci from the German Stada.

This is the second factory owned by AbelaPharm, which has invested EUR 6 million in the procurement of equipment, machines, facilities, production processes and licenses from renowned European and world companies.


Take a look at the full list of investments in the HEALTH CARE category and compare it to your opinions, expectations and estimates.

We also invite you to take a look at the investments which marked 2019 in the fields of TRANSPORTATION, INDUSTRY, ECOLOGY, AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY, TRADE CENTERS, SPORTS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND IT, REAL ESTATE (RESIDENTIAL AND OFFICE SPACE), TOURISM, ENTERTAINMENT AND RECREATION and PUBLIC UTILITY INFRASTRUCTURE AND ENERGY.

eKapija.com Beograd

Ministarstvo za javna ulaganja Republike Srbije

Opšta bolnica Gornji Milanovac

Klinički centar Srbije Beograd

Klinički centar Vojvodine

Evropska investiciona banka EIB

VITAE RESIDENCE DOO BEOGRAD

Apotekarska ustanova Novi Sad- AUNS

ZU Apoteka Benu Beograd

Specijalna bolnica za interne bolesti Mladenovac- Selters banja

GAK Narodni front Beograd

Provincial Government

FSG group

Clinic for Infectious Diseases Belgrade

AbelaPharm

retrospective

retrospective healthcare

investments in healthcare

reconstruction of hospitals

reconstruction of clinical centers

reconstruction of the Clinical Center of Vojvodina

reconstruction of Belgrade Emergency Service

Belgrade Emergency Service

reconstruction of the Clinical Center of Serbia

reconstruction of the General Hospital in Gornji Milanovac

construction of a new Gynecology and Obstetrics Clinic narodni Front

extension of Selters Banja

reconstruction of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases