Reconstruction of Stari Grad Health Center completed, preschool and school dispensaries to move in first

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The reconstruction of the Stari Grad Health Center, fully financed by the Municipality of Stari Grad Sarajevo, has been completed, finally providing adequate conditions for the provision of health services to the citizens of this municipality. Nearly two million marks were allocated for the reconstruction, and the relocation of departments and their gradual operation will begin soon. On the occasion of the completion of the works, the Health Center was visited by the Municipal Mayor, Mr. Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, accompanied by the Director of the JU Health Centers of Sarajevo Canton, Prof. Dr. Mehmed Kulić, and the Director of the Stari Grad Health Center, Dr. Amela Brčkalija.

All premises are ready for occupancy, and currently, cleaning is underway and a new layout is being determined. As stated, the Stari Grad Health Center will offer some new services in the future.

“The Stari Grad Health Center is completed, and I am pleased that, in addition to better conditions for users and staff, it will also offer expanded services. We have seen on-site that the laboratory has been moved to the ground floor, and the space for these services is now much more functional and larger. Our citizens will no longer have to go to other institutions for test results, as they will be able to complete everything here,” stated the Municipal Mayor, Mr. Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, after the tour.

“That was the main reason we entered into this project. We wanted to enable citizens to have the health services and conditions they deserve. As far as we are concerned, this project has also been successfully completed, and now it is a matter of organization and management of the Health Center when they can start operating. Our plan is to officially mark the completion of our capital projects, financed by loan funds from the Saudi Fund, with a grand ceremony on the multi-purpose square on March 1st, on the Day of Independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and celebrate this great holiday,” added Mayor Hadžibajrić.

By March 1st, the Stari Grad Health Center should be providing services at full capacity, as the relocation of departments will begin very soon and will be done partially. The school and preschool dispensaries will move in first, as stated by Prof. Dr. Mehmed Kulić, Director of the JU Health Centers of Sarajevo Canton.

“The opening of the renovated Stari Grad Health Center is of great importance for both the residents of the Stari Grad municipality and other patients who will come here. We will strive to start operations at full capacity from March 1st, first partially, and then fully put everything into function. We cannot forget that we have received two completely new 'wings', where we have space for new activities such as new speech therapists, which was not developed before. We will have an expansion of dental and radiological services, which is a significant step forward in the healthcare of the residents of the Stari Grad municipality,” said Kulić.

“We are immensely grateful to the Municipal Mayor and the entire municipal leadership, who understood that the old Health Center did not have the capacity to do this and that renovation was truly needed. We have gained increased space and quality, and without the help of the Mayor and the Municipality of Stari Grad, it would not have been possible to even start, let alone finish. This concerns financial resources that we could not obtain from the competent ministry, nor from the Health Insurance Fund; it was absolutely not possible,” said Dr. Kulić.

The director of this facility, Dr. Amela Brčkalija, confirmed that the laboratory at the Stari Grad Health Center will now perform biochemistry and certain blood tests that patients previously had done at the Centar Health Center (Vrazova). The laboratory has been moved from the first floor to the ground floor, and some other departments have also been relocated.

“On the first floor, there will be neurology, internal medicine, diabetology, radiology, and the pulmonology department. Previously, the administration was on the first floor, which is now moving to the second floor. The school and preschool dispensaries and dentistry are also on the second floor. On the ground floor are otorhinolaryngology, family medicine, and the laboratory,” said Dr. Brčkalija.

Dr. Remzija Šetkić, one of the doctors at this institution in the Center for Mental Health Stari Grad, was also present during the tour of the renovated premises with the Municipal Mayor and the management.