The health center in the village of Gorican in the administrative unit of Kutalli, Berat district, has undergone full rehabilitation and restoration and it will provide community care to some 2400 local residents. Built in 1950, its degraded infrastructure offered no minimum conditions for conducting a medical check-up. The newly-renovated health care center was the first stop of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s visit to Berat today.
“The health center in Gorican was not operational, it provided no health care services to citizens and it was flooded. The clinic has been built in 1950 and it is only now it underwent a full restoration project. It is a small health center, providing important community care to around 2400 residents in the area,” Minister of Health and Social Protection Ogerta Manastirliu explained.
A young doctor, who graduated from foreign medical schools, has recently joined the medical personnel and he admitted that the conditions have changed like night and day. “I am graduated from an Italian university and I have returned back home to give my contribution here. When I visited this health center three years ago, it was completely ruined and overwhelmed with large amounts of moisture, providing no minimum conditions for delivering health care service. Now it is completely different and we feel comfortable. Around 50% of the previously unusable space is now totally operational and we have made it available for the preventive check-up unit and obstetrics,” the young physician said.
Hover, the most important witnesses to this change are the citizens themselves, who have received health care services in this center for decades. “The center was totally ruined. The building was flooded when raining. The center now has undergone a complete transformation,” a local resident said.
“It is much better compared to what it was previously. The center provided no normal conditions for patients and the medical personnel alike,” said a nurse, who works for more than three years at this health center.
The preventive medical check-up unit opens for first time in this health center. Health Minister said that with the rehabilitation of the health centers and opening of new wards, the basic medical check-up coverage will be very high. “The basic medical check-up unit opens for the first time in this health center. With the rehabilitation of health centers and the opening of new wards, the coverage of the basic medical check will certainly be much higher. The center needed this new ward. There is now a lot of convenience for citizens to undergo the preventive check-up on time. Rehabilitation of five health centers has completed in Berat district last year. Some 100 health care centers across the country will be constructed and reconstructed during this year,” she said.
The health care center in Gorican is one of the 10 newly-renovated centers in the Ura Vajgurore municipality. Construction of a multifunctional center in Poshnje, set to become operational in a near future, is another important investment being carried out in this municipality. The Mayor of Ura Vajgurore, Juliana Memaj said that special attention has been attached on addressing social, health and pre-education system issues. “Some 10 health centers have been renovated this year only. This center in Gorican is one of them, while work is underway to rehabilitate three more health centers in Poshnje and Kutalli. A new multifunctional center in Poshnje will add up to these investments to help people with disabilities in our municipality. The center is expected to become operational by March as construction work is about to complete,” she said.
