For 3 months, over 1300 patients from Albania receive services at the Gjakova hospital – the patients themselves speak out. For more, see the report from Gjakova.
"The stable of Has is Gjakova" - this is how Hasan Çaushi from Nikoliq, Has, Albania, expresses himself, who is currently hospitalized in Gjakova Hospital, where he is receiving the necessary medical care due to an illness.
Like him, many of his fellow villagers choose to be treated across the Albanian border, in Gjakova, the closest city to them.
The reason for this is the lack of proper conditions in the health institutions of Has in Albania, which forces the residents of the area to turn to Kosovo to seek medical help.
"I'm Hasjon. I'm 20 kilometers away from Gjakova. They are welcoming us well and helping us with all the capacity they have. We don't have the environment there, because we have good people there and we are coming here because it seems to us that we are providing the medicines faster. These services, however, are more poor because we don't have a room to enter, we have to wait 3 hours to get a serum. And here, when I came three days ago, 10 people welcomed me, they took me inside with medicines and all the good things like having a brother," Çaushi emphasizes.
Although Tirana offers more healthcare options, for residents of the north it remains far and inaccessible – not only in distance, but also economically.
"Most of us get them here, everyone we know gets them here. The doctor told me to go to Tirana and I said that if he takes good care of me, I'm going home and dying because I don't have the means to go to Tirana. We don't get along much there, there's a large population there and we don't get along. We've always been with Gjakova, we're more familiar here. The province is with the province. They're not good at working because they can triple the work they give us. It was different before. Hasi used to make bread for the whole of Kuks, while today all the fields are barren," Çaushi declares.
According to data from the Gjakova Hospital, in the first quarter of this year alone, 1,300 patients from Albania received outpatient services, 170 were hospitalized, 228 dialysis sessions were performed, and 35 surgeries were performed. Furthermore, 15 pregnant women from Albania chose to give birth to their children at this hospital.
Kurt Mazreku, a resident of Has, is also hospitalized at the Gjakova Hospital. He says that the hospital in his area does not offer the necessary conditions, compared to the equipment and services offered by the Gjakova Hospital.
"I am Kurt Mazreku, I am from Has, I have always worked and lived within Has, I have not emigrated and today I am a pensioner. The reason for coming here is because we have it closer, it is equipped with the necessary medical equipment that we do not have there and we come to Gjakova. I congratulate you on your arrival. Time is what demands it and the conditions to be as good as possible. I also greet the medical staff of this hospital, especially the cardiologist who saved my life. I trust in God and the doctor who will come", says Mazreku.
Due to an arm injury, Zyrana Bolli from the village of Kostorr, in northern Albania, is also receiving services at this hospital.
"The reason is that we have it closer. We have it in Kruma but closer to Gjakova. They are more specialized than there and the communication is good, everything is wonderful. No, they are not like here, here are the best services," Bolli declares.
Hilmi Shala, director of Gjakova Hospital, says that patients from northern Albania are present every day.
According to him, since the end of the war, many residents from the northern area of Albania have been directed to the Gjakova Hospital.
"The geographical proximity, then the Kruma and Bajram Curri areas do not have enough doctors there, at this moment we are doing well with human resources. The roads have already been repaired, they have access to health services in 30 minutes," emphasizes Shala.
He adds that treatment is equal for everyone.
"For us, it is a normal flow, considering the Covid period that we have had a lot. We have sufficient staff, the number of beds is large. I believe that they trust our doctors as long as they come here. The treatment is good, the healthcare is good, there is no difference. This obliges us also because of the agreement they have in the ministries of the two states and all the services that a citizen receives from Kosovo, he also receives from Albania without any problem," Shala declares.
Dialysis is also offered free of charge to patients from Albania, while for other services they pay the same as citizens of Kosovo.
