October the 19th, 2024 – Rijeka Hospital (KBC Rijeka) can now say that it is home to a SBRT linear accelerator, the most modern device in Croatian public health at this moment in time.
As Morski writes, Rijeka Hospital has received a very important device for the treatment of oncology patients, a new linear accelerator, worth a massive three million euros in total.
“The commissioning of the first new linear accelerator at Rijeka Hospital worth more than 3 million euros secured from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NPOO) is significant on several levels. For oncology patients, it means more accessible and better quality healthcare in accordance with the National Strategic Framework against Cancer. For employees, it means better working conditions and greater satisfaction as a result of better patient treatment outcomes. For all of us, it implies a significant reform achievement in the largest project to date of implementing the most modern devices for oncology patients in Croatian public health.
We’re able to bring all of this to fruition owing to the synergy of the government and the Ministry of Health through the NPOO, as part of which we have secured as much as 85 million euros for 21 linear accelerators and the accompanying equipment. This will strengthen and improves Croatian public health through a unique radiotherapy network of institutions. It will also enable equally high-quality therapy for patients in every part of Croatia,” stated Health Minister Vili Beroš.
In addition to all of the standard options of this category of medical equipment, the first new linear accelerator at Rijeka Hospital also contains stereotaxic radiotherapy (SBRT), and provides extremely precise, image-guided radiation therapy of the latest generation for the treatment of tumours and lesions in different parts of the body. The linear accelerator is located in a newly built space, the so-called bunker, which was designed and built in the extension of the Rijeka Hospital’s tumour clinic.
“The first of the three linear accelerators from the cycle of renovation of the radiotherapy equipment at KBC Rijeka has now been inaugurated. In addition to the extremely high material value, this piece of equipment also brings with it some measurable new functional advances. The new device, which has now been put into full operation, represents the pinnacle of modern technology and includes all the advanced options that the modern radiotherapy profession knows today. This is one of the biggest steps forward in the modern clinical practice of the healthcare system of Croatia and the wider region. Thanks to the government and the Ministry of Health, it brings with it the highest standard, quality and availability of the most modern methods of treatment in oncology,” said Rijeka Hospital director, Professor Alen Ružić.
The hospital director especially thanked the team from the Ministry of Health and personally Minister Vili Beroš for the joint hard work in the realisation of this historic project. This new “resident” at Rijeka Hospital will bring Croatian public health forward by ten steps.
When looking at the value of the entire investment financed from NPOO at Rijeka Hospital, we’re talking about more than 12 million euros of secured EU funds. Broken down, that includes: three brand new linear accelerators and a CT simulator, a set of dosimetry equipment and four sets of fixation equipment.
“In addition to the new linear accelerators, we’ll have a total of 25 linear accelerators in the Croatian public health system. That represents 6.5 devices per million inhabitants, which exceeds the EU average. In a broader context, the Croatian public health system is now additionally equipped with a network of 1,400 medical devices of very recent production, of which the latest – new investments of 8 MR devices, 2 PET CTs and 12 modern CT devices – are significant. The aforementioned clearly showcases what the health policy of this government is. It is aimed at strengthening the Croatian public health system with the patient in focus,” the minister concluded.
