Association president Iva Tokić personally testified how she had to take her child to Split for a PEG replacement because it couldn't be done in Zadar. Zadar General Hospital has not responded even after two letters.
The Zaratinići Association, which advocates for the rights of children with complex health needs, has publicly called out Zadar General Hospital for failing to respond to two official letters. In these letters, they sought concrete information about the availability of healthcare for the most vulnerable children in Zadar County, but have received no response even after 20 days.
The first letter was sent on July 20, 2026, and was reiterated on July 30. As of the press release on August 10, no response had been received from Zadar General Hospital. "We believe that the lack of response justifies publicly raising these questions," the association stated.
The president of the Zaratinići Association, Iva Tokić, also shared her own experience. "As a mother of a child with complex health needs, I personally found myself in a situation where my child needed a PEG replacement in the evening, around 10 PM. In our specific case, we couldn't get the replacement done in Zadar at that time, so I took my child to Split, where the PEG was replaced," Tokić said.
The association emphasizes that this is not just a personal issue for one family but a systemic problem. They raise the question: what should a parent do if their child's gastrostomy tube becomes non-functional at night, on a weekend, or on a holiday, and can they even go to Zadar General Hospital and receive the necessary care there?
The Zaratinići Association clearly states that trained parents cannot be a substitute for an accessible healthcare service. "Some parents are trained for certain procedures and are willing to perform them, some are not, and some do not want to take on another medical responsibility on top of everything that daily care for a child with complex health needs already entails," the press release reads.
They are aware of the difference between a general hospital and a clinical hospital center and do not expect Zadar General Hospital to provide every highly specialized procedure that Split Clinical Hospital Center offers. However, they believe there is a significant gap between these two extremes where care could be organized closer to the child's home.
According to the current Public Healthcare Network, published in the Official Gazette 49/2024, the Pediatrics Department of Zadar General Hospital has 23 acute beds and 12 day-hospital places. Additionally, eight beds are allocated under the category "extended, long-term, and chronic treatment and palliative care." The hospital's official website also lists eight extended-care beds.
The Public Healthcare Network for Zadar County also provides for up to three palliative care coordinators and three mobile palliative teams. In February 2026, an initiative was publicly launched at the county level specifically for a mobile pediatric palliative team.
Furthermore, in the publicly available price list of Zadar General Hospital, there is an item DBL56 "Extended treatment in pediatrics, palliative care" with the ICD-10 code Z51.5. The association notes that the mere existence of this item does not prove that the hospital has an organized pediatric palliative service, but they consider it justified to request clarification on what these capacities mean in practice.
As an example of good practice, they cite the Pediatric Palliative Mobile Team of the Health Center of Split-Dalmatia County. They are not asking Zadar to copy another model, but rather that existing experience serve as a starting point for developing a system appropriate for Zadar County, especially important for families from the islands and rural areas.
The association calls on Zadar General Hospital to respond to the letters and accept the proposal for a joint meeting that would include, alongside representatives of the hospital, the Health Center of Zadar County, Zadar County, and relevant experts, also parents. "The goal is not for every child to stay in Zadar at all costs. When a child needs a clinical hospital center, they must have access to it. The goal is to explore whether part of the care, when medically justified and safe, can be organized closer to the child's home," the association concludes.
