Kolašin Health Center acquires new equipment and vehicles

With the purchase of vehicles, medical equipment, and adaptation of space over the past year, conditions at the Kolašin Health Center (DZ) have been significantly improved, according to the information on the work of that institution.

With funds from the Health Insurance Fund, through capital expenditures, explains the director of the Health Insurance Fund Milan Markovic, a vehicle was purchased to transport dialysis patients. In the same way, an ultrasound (UZ) device with two probes was purchased. Through donations from several companies, the premises were adapted and part of the project documentation for the reconstruction of the space where the dentistry is located was prepared, and an inhaler for the pediatric service was also purchased.

Through the procedure of purchasing reagents for biochemical analyses for free use, the DZ received a Cobas device, which expanded the list of analyses that can be performed in that institution. Through projects applied for by the relevant ministry, the Kolašin institution was provided with an electromagnetic therapy device, a hematology and ECG device. According to Marković, last year, work was completed on installing an elevator, which physically connects all three levels of the DZ. The funds were provided through the capital budget, and were allocated from the Fund.

"This is an extremely important project for our institution and all the patients who stay there, and it is a prerequisite for better utilization of the entire space, as well as for easier communication and better accessibility for older people and patients with reduced mobility. It also represents the starting point for creating new types of healthcare offerings that will be part of the specific activities of our institution in the future, for the general benefit of the entire system. The lack of space capacity is known to everyone, and through this project we have created conditions for the use of underutilized space," Marković wrote in the Information.

At the end of 2024, the Capital Projects Directorate, the director recalls, announced a tender for the execution of works on the adaptation of the DZ premises. The value of the works that are the subject of that tender is more than 300.000 euros and refers to the adaptation of several facilities of the institution, including clinics in rural areas.

Last year, 23.371 euros were spent on hiring specialists at the Kolašin DZ. As explained in the Information on the work of that institution, on a weekly or fortnightly basis, patients can receive services from the specialties of urology, cardiology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pneumophthisiology, neurology, neuropsychiatry... The Kolašin DZ can also perform breast radiology, and a neurosurgeon, endocrinologist and rheumatologist come.

When it comes to specialist examinations, the most were with radiologists (6.529), while around 1.500 patients were examined by cardiologists, and 1.242 by orthopedists. The director claims that by engaging consultants from other institutions, more than 6.000 euros are saved on a monthly basis. This saving, he says, is the difference between the costs that the Fund would reimburse, which would occur if every patient went to the Podgorica Clinical Center, and the costs of engaging consultants in the Kolašin DZ. An internist and a radiologist are in the DZ every day.

"Something that particularly strengthens our work, and especially in diagnostics, is the constant presence of a radiologist in our institution... On a monthly basis, the radiologist performs around 400 examinations. The benefits of his presence are also felt by patients from other cities. His work on a modern ultrasound machine can be the pride of the healthcare system," the director of the DZ wrote in the Information.

There are 5.954 patients registered at the DZ and 709 patients who do not have a chosen doctor. This institution, Marković explains, also provides healthcare to patients who cannot be registered in Kolašin because they are temporarily staying in the city.

"This population primarily consists of pensioners from other cities, a growing number of employees in Kolašin who are registered with the DZ throughout Montenegro, workers from other countries, and a good portion of these patients are tourists who stay in Kolašin during the winter and summer tourist seasons. All of them receive complete health care at the institution," the information reads.

This, as explained, is a "new moment" in terms of the way doctors and the entire DZ staff work and sets new standards in their work, but requires additional efforts, resources, and overall engagement.

Marković says that last year, doctors from the Kolasin Health Center performed surgeries once a week in village clinics in Dragovića Polje, Morača Monastery, and Kraljske Bare.