Tuzla Health Center on the Brink of Collapse, Citizens Increasingly Outraged

SARAJevo, (Patria) - The Health Center in Tuzla is in collapse. Citizen dissatisfaction has been simmering for years, and now it seems to have erupted into flames of anger and rage. The accumulation of problems within the management has reflected on the work of this healthcare institution, and as usual, the citizens bear the consequences. However, the mantra of 'be quiet and endure' has finally been forgotten, as citizens are clearly and loudly complaining.

Lines of dissatisfied citizens in front of the Tuzla Health Center. Most of them cannot get their test results due to broken equipment. Due to a lack of professional staff, they cannot get an appointment for a check-up for months, and if they opt for private healthcare institutions, doctors do not want to accept these results as valid. Such a patient situation is a consequence of mismanagement at the Health Center, according to activists of the Carton Revolution Movement, who have been warning about the problems within this institution for two years.

The Tuzla Health Center, as an independent auditor has proven, does not have an operational action plan, does not have a financial action plan, and does not conduct public procurements in accordance with the law - all of this has caused a total collapse in the Tuzla Health Center," claims Adi Selman, an activist of the Carton Revolution Movement.

It is also important to know that the second four-year term of the Health Center's director, Suad Bijedić, expired on February 6th of this year, and the Management Board has not announced a competition and appointed a new one in the meantime. From that day until today, Bijedić has continued to perform the role of director, announce public competitions, and sign as director illegally. We also asked the competent ministry whether a change would occur and how.

"The cantonal minister has the right to dismiss the director of a public healthcare institution if, during his term, the legal prerequisites are met, and if the management board does not react to them within a month," states the Minister of Health of TK, Dajana Čolić (DF).

So far, there have been no moves from the management board. Federal Television also sent an inquiry to the Health Center on February 23rd of this year, but no response was received. No one from the management wanted to speak to our cameras. And this is not the first time that while citizens are complaining, the Health Center remains silent.

"They do not want to be accountable to the people, which is further proof that this anarchy must stop, and we will not give up. The lives of the citizens of Tuzla are at stake here, and the citizens of Tuzla will go all the way," Selman emphasizes.

This healthcare institution is celebrating its one hundredth anniversary this year. They are marking this major jubilee with even bigger problems, but also a lack of desire to solve them. And all at the expense of the citizens.