It is increasingly certain that the Special Hospital for Thyroid Diseases and Metabolism Čigota on Zlatibor will be privatized, Nova.rs writes.
Namely, at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, in March, this hospital was ready for a month but did not accept any patients. From July 9th to August 10th, the hospital was in the COVID system, after which the real problems started.
Workers received their September salaries only in December, after which they were sent on paid leave. Some workers left their two unions where they did not receive support and joined the union “Sloga” in Užice. A institution staffed by highly qualified personnel, one that has the most advanced medical equipment, who’s capacities were always full and there were never any financial issues, has after a single month in the COVID system been left without basic funding, so that the employees had to wait for their salaries for three full months, writes Nova.rs.
How close the privatization is, no one knows exactly. In January 2017, the Government of Serbia initiated the process of privatization of ten hot springs resorts in Serbia, including the special hospital Čigota.
The topic of Čigota came into the public spotlight only two months later, when the Ministry of the Interior Affairs, in a letter, requested that the Narcissus resort, which they received from the municipality of Čajetina for temporary use, be annexed to Čigota. The municipality of Čajetina and its president Milan Stamatović reacted sternly to that decision, so the annexation did not proceed.
For years, Čigota has been a prestigious health institution, as well as a tourist facility that in addition to health care, provided sports, recreational and congress tourism services. According to Nova.rs, Čigota has so far received 35% of its funds from the state, and 65% from its own revenues.
The news is taken from the eKapija portal where it is available only in Serbian [click here].