Dr. Dragan Stevanovic, a member of the temporary Board of Directors of the Clinical Center of the University of Sarajevo (KCUS), confirmed that after Dr. Sebija Izetbegovic stepped down as director, the KCUS’s account had “60-something million BAM” and 4 million BAM in unallocated profit – a surplus compared to the current deficit. However, he noted that he expects the deficit to “soon reach five to six million BAM” due to employee lawsuits “because their rights were not respected.”
In response, former KCUS director Dr. Sebija Izetbegovic issued a statement.
“KCUS had honest management. It was an honest and capable team – us, the ones who repaid approximately 100 million BAM in debts,” wrote Izetbegovic.
“We inherited employees whose salaries hadn’t been adjusted for over 10 years, and we worked on improving them. We tackled idle workers and those with privileges – and there were many. Entire families of up to 15 members had been hired through connections before my arrival. We put an end to that. We demolished thousands of square meters of unsightly and dangerous ruins, including a 64-meter-high chimney, and created parking lots and green spaces. We built what is likely the most beautiful Hematology Clinic in the region, established a Day Hospital for oncology patients, and provided them with conditions worthy of human dignity. We showed respect to our most critically ill patients, demonstrating our belief in their recovery and healing,” she said, praising the work of her administration.
She went on to list the equipment acquired during her tenure.
“We purchased 3 new linear accelerators, 3 Tesla MRI machines, new ultrasound devices, replaced all hemodialysis machines, acquired a new CT scanner, a CT simulator, and much more equipment across all KCUS clinics. That was honest management. We also prepared equipment and a team for heart transplantation, but it wasn’t performed due to the lack of donors. We abolished dual practice – no one was allowed to work privately. Some doctors, however, continued to do so, significantly exploiting their clinics and staff for personal gain. We had detailed data on this,” she said.
She then addressed the salaries of the current Board of Directors members.
“Board members now earn around 1.100 BAM per month, and the Board President 1.345 BAM, unless the legal provisions have changed. They should be delivering better results. We left them 68 million BAM. In just 9 months, they are already 6 million in debt; I fear it might be even more. They should have been well into building new clinics in the Central Medical Block (CMB), purchasing a new PET CT scanner, upgrading equipment in other clinics, and, of course, increasing employee salaries. Instead, it seems that after the lies about respirators, we’re now facing a new one: ‘An honest administration must incur a deficit.’ No, it doesn’t. Only an incompetent administration creates a deficit,” concluded Izetbegovic, N1 writes.
