August the 20th, 2022 - Dismissals have taken place at Rijeka Hospital (KBC Rijeka) following the discovery of expensive items ranging from perfume and jewellery to cancer treatment being hidden in the facility's cellar.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, Rijeka Hospital has confirmed the termination of the contracts of three staff members, stating that "they were forced to terminate their contracts due to the protection of patients' interests and the necessity of preventing further material damage to the institution and to the state budget". Unofficially, it has been circulating that the value of the drugs which had been hidden and stored is in the millions.

The former president of the Clinic, a former head nurse and a nurse from the departmental pharmacy all allegedly received extraordinary dismissals.

Regarding the above, the appropriate reports were submitted to the competent judicial authorities. That is why at this moment in time, the directorate of Rijeka Hospital explained, they're unable to provide additional information.

Unofficially, it has been circulating that a large quantity of expired cytostatics was found not in the ward pharmacy, but in the cellar warehouse of the Clinic. According to the rules, these drugs, some of which are very expensive and are procured specifically for an individual patient, would have to be returned to the hospital pharmacy and properly stored if not used. Where did such quantities of drugs, the value of which is still being assessed, come from in the cellar? Whether they were being given to patients or simply hidden away down there is not yet known. However, the hospital has stated that this is completely illegal.

According to Rijeka Hospital, the treatment and lives of the patients were not endangered by these very serious violations of obligations of the employment relationship.

Material damage

Inadequately stored and hidden medicines undoubtedly point to the negligent doing of business and severe material damage. Rijeka Hospital's directorate has stated that "During the internal procedures undertaken to properly determine the condition, the directorate prepared a proposal for one nurse, due to her age, to be transferred to an easier position (in which she will not be responsible for medicines and consumables). That employee cancelled the agreed meeting with the administration right before the start. We had no knowledge of the employee's serious illness," they said from the directorate.

According to Rijeka Hospital, the work of the Radiotherapy and Oncology Clinic is going smoothly.

Expensive drinks, jewellery, art...

Novi list has reported that hospital circles have learned that, among other things, 74 bottles of expensive alcoholic beverages have been found on the official premises of the Clinic for Radiotherapy and Oncology, the introduction of which is prohibited by the regulations of Rujeka Hospital from 2019. The drinks being there represents a serious violation of employee obligations, and other items that must not be stored in the Clinic premises, such as pieces of gold jewellery, art, and more than 150 used gift bags, were also allegedly dscovered.

It is estimated that the material damage amounts to more than one million euros in total, encompassing expensive medicines, othe types of medical equipment and materials that were improperly stored, i.e. hidden in the clinic's cellar in special locked rooms to which three female employees only had access. It had been very strictly ordered that no one apart from them may enter those hospital premises.

Extraordinary dismissals

As a rule, the extraordinary termination of an employment contract is done due to properly established serious violations of employment duties and comes into force on the day of delivery of the decision. In this case, workers don't have the right to a notice period and severance pay, all their work rights cease and they don't have the right to unemployment benefits.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

March the 18th, 2021 - Professor Alen Protic from the Rijeka Hospital's intensive care unit has spoken out about the number of younger coronavirus patients now requiring respirators to help them breathe as the pandemic rages on.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, with 62 hospitalised patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at the time of writing, the Clinical Hospital Centre in Rijeka opened a new COVID-19 department and respiratory centre this week. The new ward is adapted for the care of coronavirus patients and is located at the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, which was first opened at the end of last year.

The Rijeka Hospital announced the above and added that the new coronavirus ward is being run in accordance with all of the applicable health and technical conditions and is physically separated from the rest of the clinic.

Eight patients this week needed the aid of a respirator at the Rijeka Hospital, and according to the head of the Clinic for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Professor Alen Protic, the average age of patients treated for the novel coronavirus with a respirator is lower than it was back during the autumn wave.

As Professor Alen Protic explained, this younger age of patients is partly expected due to the better level of vaccination of the elderly population, Novi list writes.

"Vaccination of the elderly population is causing a decrease in the average age of our patients and these statistics are easy to follow. The new centre will certainly relieve the current COVID-19 centre, and we hope that the slightly younger population being treated in the new ward will continue to be more resistant to the disease. In any case, we're ready for the scenario we had back in December," Protic pointed out.

At one point in December 2020, the Rijeka Hospital had more than 160 hospitalised patients with a lab confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, and those patients were cared for at all three locations of the Rijeka Hospital. Currently, at the Rijeka Clinical Hospital, patients with coronavirus are being treated at the Clinic of Infectious Diseases, the newly opened centre at the Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics, the respiratory centre at the Clinic of Neurology and the Susak site at the Department of Nephrology.

"At the moment, the average age of our patients has dropped below 70 and is currently between 65 and 63, but we had patients who were 70 and 80 on respirators and we expect the average age of our patients to drop down to 60. Judging by the current situation, I believe that the centres intended for COVID-19 patients in our hospital will be open at least until the end of this year," concluded Professor Alen Protic.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages.

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, 15 March 2021 - The Rijeka Clinical Hospital Centre on Monday received 12 new ventilators that were procured by the Health Ministry with the use of EU funds.

The hospital's director, Alen Ružić, thanked the ministry, government and European Commission for the valuable equipment, underscoring that it would significantly improve working conditions at the hospital and contribute to better patient care as well as improving the quality of treatment.

The ventilators will be put to use immediately in various wards at the hospital but primarily to relieve the work of the respiratory centre with COVID-19 patients, in ICU, and at neurology and pediatric wards. The hospital now has about 60 ventilators which are sufficient to cover the current number of patients.

Health Ministry State-Secretary Željko Plazonić, who chairs the KBC Rijeka steering board, said the ventilators were obtained through a procurement process conducted by the European Commission. They are part of a contingent of 169 ventilators procured for COVID-19 wards in health institutions throughout Croatia. The price of each ventilator is €24,000, Plazonić added.

Answering reporters' questions, Ružić said that due to the new wave of COVID-19 the hospital's level of preparedness had been increased and if need be it would be prepared to open a new COVID ward that would be separated from other wards. He added that due to the increased number of COVID-19 patients, the number of other non-urgent surgical procedures would be partially reduced.