Ђ. JANKOVIĆ
Hosts with guests from Austria
Winfred Pinger, Director General of the Austrian Pension Insurance Institute, visited the Special Hospital for Rehabilitation of Banja Koviljača for the first time on Wednesday and stated that Koviljača belongs to the top class of European spas.
– I am glad that you have decided to cooperate with us – said Pinger, recalling that a day earlier in Belgrade a three-year cooperation agreement was signed between the Special Hospital for Rehabilitation and the Austrian Pension Insurance Institute, which “Vesti” has already written about. This will enable rehabilitation in the mother tongue for citizens of Serbian origin who make up the second largest group of insured persons of foreign origin in Austria.
– A large number of Serbs live in Austria and have various diseases, but some rarely dare to be treated there because they have not mastered the language well. It is great that we can now offer them treatment in their mother tongue. In addition to physical pain, sick people also feel psychological pressure, and it is important for someone to come to such an environment, to recover from this beauty. I admit that I have never seen such a beautiful environment. I hope that I will not need spa treatment, but if it were, I would decide to come here – said the guest from Austria after a two-hour tour of the Special Hospital.
Delighted: Winfred Pinger
Preparations for cooperation lasted five years. Three more large centers in Serbia were given the opportunity to apply for this job with the Austrian pension fund, and after numerous meetings and expert visits to rehabilitation centers, it was estimated that only Banja Koviljača meets all the conditions. The director of the institution, Dr. Aleksandar Jokić, assessed that the signed agreement on three-year cooperation between the Austrian Pension Fund and the Special Hospital as a state institution dealing with spa treatment is historically for the development of the institution and “probably the biggest and most important commercial contract”.
– The agreement has entered into force and it is realistic that the first patients from Austria will start arriving in August. It depends on the interest how many there will be, but according to the number of calls that are daily, it will exceed all expectations – says Dr. Jokić.
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