May 23

Today we visited one of the local hospitals in Zagreb. There are six general hospitals in the city, but the one we visited specialized in orthopedic trauma. We were able to experience how things are handled in the ER of the hospital. The small hospital is owned by the government and is still run under a social medicine model so the patients do not have to directly pay for their care. Approximately 400 patients are seen each day in this department, and many of them are seen on an outpatient basis. We were able to witness several patients have casts put on their arms or legs for various types of injuries. To save money, plaster casts are still used these days. Plastic casts are available, but the patient must pay an extra charge out of pocket for the better materials. They even have to buy them ahead of time at the local pharmacy.

Another way they are able to save money is by using the cleaning ladies as aids for the medical professionals. In addition to cleaning they often will transport patients, gather the hospital charts, and help the patients undress before procedures. We were able to talk to one English speaking patients who was able to tell us her opinion on the pros and cons of the system. She thought that the medical staff were very good, but because of financial constraints, the services and facilities were not at the standard that she would like to see.

One major thing that I noticed was that the nurses did not wear gloves when giving shots and handling blood. When talking to the locals, we discovered that they are not very concerned about contracting diseases such as HIV/AIDS. They do not think that it is a big problem in Croatia, and so their perceived risk is small. This is very different from the perceptions of medical staff in the states!

~Lee Ann