Radončić demands dismissal of director Kulić, Hadžibajrić responds

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - SBB party leader Fahrudin Radončić today used Instagram to call on the KS Government to dismiss the director of the Public Institution Health Center, Mehmed Kulić.

"I see and hear many reasoned remarks and truly dramatic calls from citizens, patients and their families, complaining about the actions of certain doctors and staff in health centers.
The new KS Government is fighting many challenges well, but it must show it is listening and take responsibility by immediately dismissing the head of this institution. All managers, not just in healthcare, who are capable of handling usual and routine situations, must immediately step down and make way for those who are faster, more energetic, more responsible, and more ethically aware of the Hippocratic Oath. Therefore, as the president of SBB and part of the coalition in Sarajevo Canton, I demand that the current director be promptly replaced. There is no time to waste, people are dying, and the escalation of the pandemic, which requires maximum organization and engagement of health institutions, is yet to come. Every day in this situation is significant and irreplaceable," Radončić stated.

This was followed by a reaction from the president of the Independent Bosnian-Herzegovinian List (NBL) and president, Ibrahim Hadžibajrić.

President of the Independent Bosnian-Herzegovinian List, mr. Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, strongly condemns any kind of politicking that Minister Radončić is engaging in at this critical moment and rejects his call for the dismissal of prof. dr. Mehmed Kulić.

"Such thoughtless moves by the current government lead nowhere, and calls for dismissals are just a cover-up for their own incompetence and the fact that almost two years after the elections, this country still does not have a formed FBiH Government, and we are all suffering the consequences of these mistakes now. Minister, answer us, what is happening with the Federal Crisis Staff of Civil Protection at this crucial moment for the safety of our citizens, and what does this restructuring mean? Answer the people how it is possible that during the COVID-19 pandemic, our Federal Staff does not include the FBiH Minister of Health or experts: epidemiologists, virologists… Does anyone even know who is managing this situation, and the key question in all of this: WHO is procuring equipment and tests?
If you believe that the Public Institution Health Centers are the weakest link in the chain, then you should ask yourself under whose directives and orders the Health Centers in Sarajevo Canton are operating, who has established the protocols for work and the protocols by which they receive patients?

For the sake of the uninformed public, we will clarify that prof. dr. Mehmed Kulić, as the director of the Public Institution Health Centers of Sarajevo Canton, acts according to the orders of the Cantonal Civil Protection Staff and certain direct orders from the Federal Crisis Staff. Everything that these staffs have ordered the Health Centers to do has been implemented, but the public may not be sufficiently aware of this.

By direct orders from these staffs, the Health Centers in Sarajevo Canton have adjusted their working hours and equipped telephone lines that are available 24/7. The obligations of the Health Centers are defined by the Plan of Action in Crisis Situations: it is stipulated that they make house calls, continue to care for chronic patients, form triage control tents, and more. And the most important issue of COVID-19 testing is not a question that should be asked of prof. dr. Kulić. Health Centers can only perform COVID-19 swabs upon the order of the KS Institute of Public Health, and Health Centers have never performed these swabs, nor do they have the capacity for them! Therefore, we repeat the question: WHO is procuring the tests?

So that the public has full information, we inform you at this time that prof. dr. Mehmed Kulić has actively cooperated with all Municipal Civil Protection Staffs in KS in recent days, who immediately understood the seriousness of the situation and allocated funds for the procurement of protective equipment for the Health Centers. So far, the Health Centers have procured equipment worth almost 150,000 KM to be used in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. Prof. dr. Mehmed Kulić, as a respected doctor with many years of practice, is making maximum efforts for these institutions to respond to the challenge before them and to help citizens as much as they can, but like everyone else in this country, he must currently respect the decisions of the crisis staffs and act accordingly.

Given the seriousness of the situation due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus throughout the country, the Independent Bosnian-Herzegovinian List will no longer engage in such polemics and today we are reacting only to protect the reputation and dignity of our member, prof. dr. Mehmed Kulić, and we leave all further decisions regarding the management of the Public Institution Health Centers of KS to the Government of Sarajevo Canton.