Dr. Omerović withdraws signature of support, then awarded head of Clinic for Orthopedics and Traumatology position

Doctor Đemil Omerović has been appointed as the new head of the Clinic for Orthopedics and Traumatology at KCUS, while Prof. Dr. Ismet Gavrankapetanović's current employment contract has been terminated and a new one offered as a specialist. If he does not accept, he will be dismissed. He is still reviewing the terms of the new contract with his legal team, reports the Patria agency.

It is interesting that Gavrankapetanović had a valid contract addendum to the terminated contract which was set to expire in April 2018 or until a new decision. It is evident that director Sebija Izetbegović did not want to leave anything to chance, so she terminated the employment contract (although she initially claimed that Prof. Gavrankapetanović's contract expired on July 11th after 19 years at the head of the Clinic) and offered another one.

Dr. Omerović was one of the signatories of the Statement in which 14 colleagues opposed the new structure of the Clinic and the way Prof. Dr. Gavrankapetanović was dismissed. Under pressure from director Izetbegović and blackmail, Dr. Omerović withdrew his signature from the Statement and took over the position of head of the Clinic a few days later.  

Dr. Omerović, along with his family members, owns the company "VERDANT", which deals with domestic and foreign trade, and is the founder of the private pharmacy Verdant. According to information obtained by Patria, Omerović was blackmailed that cooperation with the pharmacy would be suspended if he did not withdraw his signature from the letter of support.

He has been employed at KCUS in the Clinic for Orthopedics and Traumatology since November 1, 1995.

Incidentally, although 40 prominent doctors, including a dozen professors, have left this hospital either voluntarily or under pressure since Dr. Izetbegović took over the leadership of KCUS, the dismissal of Dr. Gavrankapetanović resonated among his colleagues across Europe and the world. Colleagues from Zagreb, Vienna, and Munich reacted, sending appeals and warning that numerous ongoing projects in which Dr. Gavrankapetanović participated as head of the Clinic for Orthopedics and Traumatology, and KCUS as an institution, would be jeopardized.

It will soon become clear the extent of the damage caused by Izetbegović to both patients and the reputation of KCUS in international circles. Along with the exodus of doctors, the question arises whether this was her goal.