July the 9th, 2025 – Croatian medical institutions have won the HealthComm Awards 2025, spotlighting the excellence in healthcare in this country.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the Croatian medical institutions Varaždinske Toplice Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation and the Varaždin Medical School have won the national HealthComm Awards 2025. This is the first Croatian award for excellence in healthcare, according to Varaždin County’s website. These awards are given to innovative projects and individuals spanning seven different categories by an independent EU body, which operates under the European Commission (EC) and its Department for Health and Social Welfare.
Varaždin County Prefect Anđelko Stričak hosted a reception at the County Palace to mark this recognition, together with the President of the County Assembly Krunoslav Lukačić and heads of departments Dr. sc. Miroslav Huđek and Ljubica Božić. During that gathering,he congratulated the Director of the Hospital Dr. Denis Kovačić, the Director of the Medical School Mirjana Grabar Kruljac, the Director of the Varaždin County Pharmacy Mirko Magić and the Manager of the Korzo Pharmacy Marija Novak. He also thanked the hardworking and dedicated employees of these shining examples among the many Croatian medical institutions on winning the HealthComm Awards 2024.
Varaždinske Toplice Special Hospital won first prize in the category “Best Technological Solution in Healthcare”. The award specifically came for the project entitled “The Construction and Equipping of the National Rehabilitation Centre for People with Spinal Cord Diseases and Injuries”. The already very well known Spinal Centre opened less than two years ago. It offers care and renewed hope to patients with severe spinal injuries and diseases from all over Croatia.
“We’re currently the only institution in all of Croatia that deals with this issue. Patients who unfortunately find themselves in these types of situations often stay in our institution for months. Over 1,000 patients have passed through the Spinal Centre in less than two years of operation. A significant step forward was the introduction of robotic technology into the public system. We started out with a device for robotic rehabilitation. Last year, we enriched our equipment with another robot for lower limb rehabilitation, which was purchased using Varaždin County’s own funds. In regard to that, I’d really like to extend my thanks to the county prefect who recognised the need for this type of tech. Robotic rehabilitation, which seemed far-fetched just three or four years ago, has proven to be a complete success. That’s only been further confirmed by this award for excellence that we received,” said the director of the Special Hospital, Dr. Denis Kovačić.
It seems the innovation isn’t stopping there, either. Around two months ago, an outpatient hospital for physical medicine and rehabilitation also opened in the Spinal Centre. This opening marked a major step forward for the availability and quality of rehabilitation medicine services for patients from across Varaždin County.
The third-awarded “Demo Pharmacy – Recipe for Knowledge” is the first school pharmacy in Croatia. It is a combination of education and the real sector, specifically pharmacies, hospitals and all other healthcare institutions that use medicinal products. What they’re doing makes them stand out among Croatian medical institutions and those further afield, and as such more than worthy of winning the HealthComm Awards 2025.
“Our pharmacy is based on a pharmaceutical-analytical laboratory that we managed to properly equip owing to an EU project. The most sophisticated processes for preparations take place in it, which our students undergo under the mentorship of a master of pharmacy from the Varaždin County Pharmacy. The services of our demo pharmacy will be available as of September, after the start of the new academic year. The pharmaceutical industry remains focused on serial production. That means that all kinds of medicines, creams, ointments and drops come in predefined packages. For us, our motto is “personalised medicine”.
This means that we create preparations according to the very individual needs of their users. For example, if a two-month-old baby needs a special dose of antibiotics, then the parents can contact us. After we’ve collected all the necessary data, our masters will use sophisticated equipment in the laboratory to create exactly what that specific child needs. We then distribute the preparations through the student cooperative Recept znanja (Prescription of knowledge), and I can reveal that our most sought-after product in the last month has been heel cream. It may not have designer packaging, but it’s packed full of the most important thing, content and soul,” said the director of the Medical School, Mirjana Grabar Kruljac.
