Institute Igalo a Gem on the Mediterranean

By , 22 Oct 2018, 16:28 PM Lifestyle
Institut Igalo Institut Igalo Ljilja Nikezić

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October 22, 2018 - Just over a year after joining, Executive Director Dr. Gordana Rajovic, in an interview with Dnevne novine, says that the Institute has achieved what they planned and even beyond expectations.

The Institute never had a problem with the staff. Patients are satisfied, but the problem, after 70 years of existence, is the equipment. Medicine is progressing in major steps, but the equipment at the Institute is outdated.

“To me, they say, in good will, that I am a cardiologist, so I first started restoring the cardiology equipment. Of course, I did not do it for this reason. Physical medicine equipment was constantly purchased and refurbished as it could at that time. Only, out of all these facilities, nothing was purchased from the cardiological rehabilitation equipment. That was terrible for me because I am the most qualified one in this area. Now we have fully equipped cardiology with the latest devices. There is an ultrasonic apparatus for all areas, not just for an ultrasound of the heart, and we also have doctors of all specialties and subspecialties. We also added a part for diagnostics. This is ergometry with treadmill tape, a Holter ECG that has the ability to diagnose sleep apnea and electromyography in the field of neurology," Rajović said.

That is, she adds, the most up-to-date apparatus. "After the purchase and installation of the equipment, we started with the education of the staff. Specialization required highly educated experts who came from the Military Academy in Dedinje because they have licensed schools. We have patients from Norway, Denmark, Holland, Sweden and many other countries, that is, from the EU countries and who, for each diagnostic method we are doing, require coverage. That's why we decided for VMA because, after training, our doctors get a license to work on those diagnostic apparatuses," Rajović said. In the Institute there are guests who do not have therapies, but they stay in Igalo as tourists. Last year they had 220,000 overnights and it was a record. Last year was exceptionally good. Much better than many previous years. This year, for now, we have 6,000 overnights more. We've been working hard and trying to get out on the market. We went to big fairs, selectively, because of the financial situation. Here we have seen our chance to increase the number of guests," Rajović said. 

An increasing number of tourists from Russia 

She points out that the number of Russian guests has increased.

"Significantly, those individual guests and some sports teams. The statistics show it all. Whenever we were at fairs, as was the case in Norway and Russia, we considerably increased the number of individual guests. We've had the Dutch as regular guests for more than 20 years, then the Danes, Swedes and Germans. As for Norwegians, I have repeatedly said that we applied to their Government and we were ranked first in the Norwegian tender. So far, we have always received six groups of guests, and now, for the first time after 40 years, we got the seventh group of 140 guests. I was trying to meet all of their expectations in the talks with representatives of Norwegian hospitals and the government and meet some of the small requirements they had, which resulted in the acquisition of another guest group, i.e. 980 patients each year in the next four years," Rajovic said.

Although one cannot participate in the privatization of the Institute, they recommend it to investors.

"This is a jewel. The entire property of the Institute is preserved, and we have great potential. We just miss investments. All that is being done now is only for maintenance purposes. We do not have the opportunity to move on because we do not have the money. This institute needs to make a step forward, and everyone who invests money will realize that the Institute is indeed a real jewel of the Mediterranean. And in this situation, we succeeded this year, after 10 years, to increase salaries to employees by seven percent. With the rise in VAT and expenses, we are doing well and we are now on the white tax list," says Rajovic.

Investments are needed

Can the Institute be without investors and without big investments? With no investors, it will stagnate. "We have a turnover of ten million, but we have to keep in mind that maintenance is very expensive. Over 400,000 euros have been invested this year since I am head of the Institute. The previous policy was not to invest because the Institute would get an investor. I do not agree with that. On the contrary. Investments should also be made for patients, but also for investors who will be more likely to decide to buy a good company. Much has been invested in renovation, cleaning and maintenance. It may be enough to say only that there are about 550 different pumps in the Institute. They get broken, some are outdated ... When it gets worse, as it happens, on mineral water pumps, it stops 2000 therapy and makes so many patients feel dissatisfied. So, in addition to the planned, we also have unplanned costs, and this involves a large portion of the money. Both facilities require a major reconstruction and therefore an investor is needed," emphasized Rajovic.

Text by Dnevne novine, on October 22nd 2018, read more at Boka news

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