Valuable Donation from Chicago to the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of Bar General Hospital
The Islamic Rumija Center from Chicago donated medical equipment worth approximately €59,000 to the General Hospital in Bar for its Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics. The donation represents a significant contribution to improving healthcare conditions at the Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, while also providing additional support to new mothers and their families.
The donation agreement was signed today by Zijad Peković on behalf of the Rumija Center in Chicago and Dr. Miroslav Knežević, Director of the General Hospital Bar.
Dr. Miroslav Knežević, Director of the General Hospital Bar, expressed his gratitude to the donors. According to Dr. Knežević, donations such as this are highly significant, contributing to improved working conditions, patient care, and treatment, while emphasizing that healthcare professionals are the cornerstone of every medical institution.
“I believe that you have made a remarkable gesture, for which we are sincerely grateful. We highly appreciate the trust you have placed in us. We will repay that trust in the best possible way by ensuring that the women, expectant mothers, and new mothers who come to the General Hospital Bar receive an even higher quality of healthcare services,” said Dr. Knežević, encouraging his colleagues to continue their dedicated work.
“We have also recorded significant progress in the number of births at our hospital, with a considerably higher number compared to last year. The trust that had been partially undermined in previous years is certainly being restored,” the Director of the General Hospital Bar noted, adding: “The support of our people living in the diaspora, demonstrated through this donation, shows above all their love for their homeland and their desire to help.”
Zijad Peković stated that it was an honor for him to be at the General Hospital Bar today on behalf of the Islamic Rumija Center in Chicago.
“It is a pleasure to have my wife and mother here with me. We recognized the need to support women and children. Our wish is to maintain a connection with the local community and for that connection not to be limited to our vacations in Montenegro, but rather to represent an effort toward a possible return in the future,” said Peković, adding that he had also brought his children, representatives of the third generation of Americans whose roots trace back to Mrkojevići.
Sabrija Vulić, the coordinator of the initiative, stated that the campaign was launched by the Rumija Women’s Group in cooperation with the Rumija Islamic Center and the Rumija Cultural Center.
“We are grateful to our diaspora and to everyone who supported this initiative through their donations. We hope this is the first of many such actions and that it will encourage others to support the General Hospital Bar and our community. The entire donation and procurement process was carried out in accordance with all required procedures, including the signing of a Donation Agreement, after which the equipment was ordered directly by the Rumija Islamic Center,” said Vulić.
The Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the General Hospital Bar is a relatively young team that was in need of technical support.
“We have received a complete gynecological examination unit, including a delivery bed, which is extremely important for childbirth, as it provides expectant mothers with more comfortable conditions for a safer and more pleasant delivery experience. Our ultimate goal is to have a satisfied mother and a healthy child. Our responsibility now is to justify this trust, to work toward increasing the number of births at our hospital, and to ensure that women leave the maternity ward satisfied while maintaining the confidence they have placed in us,” said Dr. Svetlana Šćekić, expressing her gratitude for the donation.
The donated equipment includes: an Arietta 50LE ultrasound machine valued at €47,553, a three-section delivery bed worth €1,198, a CTG monitor valued at €2,675, a delivery table costing €4,280, and a gynecological examination chair valued at €3,085.
The Head Nurse of the General Hospital Bar, Nada Đikanović, also expressed her deep appreciation to the donors.
“It is not important how many of us there are or where we live, but who we are and what is in our hearts. This time, it became clear that there is a great Mrkojevići heart beating in Chicago—a heart that also beats for the General Hospital Bar and for Montenegro. Thank you sincerely for everything,” said Đikanović.
Translation: Breškić Teodora
