A huge step forward in cooperation with the United States of America

The largest American hospital „University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)“ signed a cooperation contract with Croatian St. Catherine Specialty Hospital

Above photo: Prof. Dragan Primorac, M.D., Ph.D., Chuck Bogosta (first row), Elzabeth Wild, David Beirne, Jadranka Primorac and Prof. Joel Nelson, M.D. (standing)

The leadership of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), an institution of national importance in the USA, which is also the largest health institution in the USA, visited Croatia. The American delegation was led by UPMC Executive Vice President Chuck Bogosta, and four other UPMC Vice Presidents that were present are: prof. Joel Nelson, M .D., Elzabeth Wild, David Beirne and Pierluigi Montanini.

The Executive Vice President of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and the President of UPMC International Chuck Bogosta met with the President of the Board of Trustees of St. Catherine Specialty Hospital prof. Dragan Primorac, M.D., Ph. D. and signed a cooperation agreement in the field of health care and science. Moreover, the delegation met with Mark Fleming, Lawyer of the US Embassy in Zagreb, prof. Vili Beroš, M.D., Ph.D., Minister of Health of the Republic of Croatia, and Tomislav Dulibić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Health of Croatia.

The UPMC was founded in 1893 and currently has 92,000 employees, of which 5,000 are physicians. The hospital’s annual budget is $ 23 billion, and the UPMC chain has a total of 40 hospitals with 8,400 beds. UPMC works closely with the University of Pittsburgh, which has 32,000 students and 7,500 employees. Three Nobel Prize Laureates come from the University of Pittsburgh: prof. Philip Hench (discovery of adrenal cortex hormones), prof. Paul Lauterbur (invention of magnetic resonance imaging) and Wangari Maathai (for his contribution to world peace).

Historically, UPMC has left a huge mark on the development of world medicine in many areas, such as transplant surgery (prof. Thomas E. Starzl of UPMC is considered the "father of modern transplant surgery"), radiology (UPMC developed the first PET / CT in the world), sports medicine, etc.

St. Catherine Specialty Hospital is a European Center of Excellence and a leader in the integration of personalized medicine into clinical practice. It is the official hospital of the Croatian Football Federation and the Croatian Olympic Committee. Moreover, St. Catherine Specialty Hospital is the teaching base of four medical schools from Croatia and annually cares for more than 35,000 patients from Croatia and abroad.

Statements:

Chuck Bogosta, Executive Vice President of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and President of UPMC International: “We are extremely excited about the collaboration with St. Catherine Specialty Hospital and prof. Dragan Primorac, M.D., Ph.D. This will be our first partnership in this part of Europe and we are truly proud of this cooperation."

Prof. Dragan Primorac, M.D., Ph.D.: "Long-term cooperation between UPMC, the largest American health institution, and the St. Catherine Specialty Hospital has resulted in this historic Contract which makes me extremely happy. Collaboration with UPMC is very important for positioning of Croatian health care system in the world, and I am convinced that the professional and scientific cooperation of leading Croatian and American physicians will result in better and more efficient health care for Croatian patients ".

Photo: Chuck Bogosta, Executive Vice President of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and President of UPMC International and prof. Dragan Primorac, M.D., Ph.D., President of the Board of Directors of St. Catherine Specialty Hospital