Popović Samardžić: It is not true that the current management of the Podgorica Health Center found eight gynecologists

It is not true that the current management of the Podgorica Health Center found eight gynecologists, Milena Popović Samardžić, president of the Union of Medical Doctors of Montenegro (SDMCG), announced today.

She was reacting to yesterday's reaction of the Podgorica Health Center regarding the article "The system was late, the doctor left: Thousands of patients from Podgorica were left without their chosen gynecologist" which was published yesterday in the Independent Daily (ND) Vijesti and on the Vijesti portal.

The response of the Podgorica Health Center states, among other things, that "the current management has been making enormous efforts over the past three years to revitalize the neglected state of the institution that was found at the beginning of 2024, including gynecology, when specifically there were 8 doctors specializing in gynecology and obstetrics in the service of selected doctors for women."

Popović Samardžić also reacted to the fact that today, the Podgorica Health Center said for Boje jutra on Television Vijesti that Dr. Jelena Knežević's patients will not be left without gynecological care, and that her door is still open.

Popović Samardžić announced today that the public deserves the truth, not an attempt to present their own results as better than they are.

"Regarding the statement by the Capital City Health Center, we are obliged to point out a series of untrue allegations, manipulations and serious professional failures that, unfortunately, best speak about the way the current management communicates with the public. First of all, it is not true that the current management found eight gynecologists. Upon taking office, they found ten specialists in gynecology and obstetrics. During their term, two gynecologists left the service, so the number dropped to eight. Only after the return of doctors from previously started specializations did that number increase again. The public deserves the truth, not an attempt to present their own results as better than they are," Popović Samardžić emphasized in the statement.

She added that an even greater manipulation is the attempt to present the return of the four specialists as a success of the current management.

"The specialization in gynecology lasts four years. In the three years of the mandate, it was not possible to 'give birth' to four new specialists. These specializations were announced and awarded by the previous directors, Dr. Nebojša Kavarić and Dr. Danilo Jokić, and are the result of their decisions and years of work by the doctors themselves. During the mandate of the current management, only one specialization in gynecology was announced. These are the facts," said Popović Samardžić.

She said that the claim that they found a "neglected state" in gynecology was equally incorrect.

"Such a qualification insults all the doctors and nurses who have built this service for years. The new equipment and instruments are not the result of the work of the current management, but primarily the efforts of Dr. Jelena Knežević and her colleagues, who have improved conditions in the service with their work," said Popović Samardžić.

She said that the tone of the statement was particularly inappropriate towards a doctor who worked at the Health Center for five years, treated more than 6.000 patients, was the head of the department, and left behind professional results and the trust of patients.

"The statement does not contain a word of gratitude for her contribution. Instead, it attempts to downplay the significance of her departure and relativize the reasons why she left the institution. At the same time, it publicly calls for her to withdraw her resignation, while the same statement claims that 'the system is functioning smoothly' and that her patients will be assigned to other doctors. Such messages are mutually contradictory and demonstrate the absence of a serious communication strategy," Popović Samardžić stated.

According to her, it is particularly unfair that the burden of the departure of an experienced gynecologist, who came to the Health Center with eight years of previous specialist experience, is being tried to be shifted onto doctors who are just returning from specialization.

"These young specialists are not responsible for the personnel policy or for the departure of their more experienced colleagues. On the contrary, they deserve support, and not to be used as a cover to hide the responsibility of the management. In the end, the statement itself speaks best about the professionalism and intention of the current management. Instead of responsibility, self-criticism and gratitude towards the departing doctor, the public was offered inaccurate data, appropriation of other people's results, an attempt to diminish the contribution of previous management and a defensive defense of their own work. This is not a responsible attitude towards the public interest, it is an attempt to replace facts with propaganda. Citizens, employees and patients deserve more respect and more truth," said Popović Samardžić.

"Vijesti" announced yesterday that several thousand patients were left without their chosen gynecologist after Dr. Jelena Knežević, after two decades of work in public health, left the Capital City Health Center.

According to unofficial information from "Vijesti", Knežević resigned at the end of June, and her last working day was June 29. A day later, a new rulebook came into effect, specifying that the use of maternity, paternity or parental leave cannot be an obstacle to performing additional work.