Kraljevska zemaljska bolnica u Pakracu - primjer gospodarskog poslovanja velike bolnice u Velikom ratu
The Royal State Hospital in Pakrac – an example of economic activities of a large hospital during the Great War

Summary/Abstract: This paper will endeavour to show, using archival records, the level of preparation of the Royal State Hospital in Pakrac, in terms of facilities, at the outbreak of the First World War and how the war affected the operational activities of the hospital. Drawing on various examples this paper indicates the reasons for its operational success as compared to other, similar institutions, particularly in the Požega County, and the reasons why smaller hospitals had diffi culties in adjusting to operational activities in war conditions. Special attention is devoted to the acquisition of medical material (particularly clothes, dressings and pharmaceuticals) and food, all of which were hard to acquire in suffi cient quantities due to the great demand because of the war. The Royal State Hospital of Pakrac was in the possession of relatively new and spacious hospital buildings (main building, administration building, staff pavilion, mental institution and outbuildings) built far from inhabited places, which was favourable for patients who could freely use the hospital gardens for walks in the fresh air. The hospital was divided into departments with a suffi cient number of medical staff and physicians; due to several years’ investments in general and medical infrastructure, it had become an independent high-level unit of the public health system. Hospital directors and managers – who were even held responsible in a material sense for any failures - took care of the proper running of hospital operations. They were supported by a number of administrative assistants; this proved to be the key factor in solving various issues of hospital operations that were the results of the war. The hospital was not allowed to run any important operations without the permission of the Land government, nevertheless it enjoyed a high level of independent decision-making because the government very often, without raising further objections, accepted additional comments on various decisions of the hospital management, particularly if they were related to economies and the rationalisation of hospital operations. Economizing was an effective key word in wartime conditions and referred to all material expenses for the treatment of a great number of soldiers: dressings, linen, pharmaceuticals and all kinds of food. It was much easier for the hospital of Pakrac to purchase food regardless of the food shortage during the war because they themselves cultivated the large estate of the hospital and additionally took extra arable land on lease. The receipts obtained from this for the year 1916 amounted to 43% of the hospital budget, thus it is no surprise that the hospital was capable of investing in medical equipment even during the war. The hospital purchased a new surgical table and a phototherapy lamp, at that time inconceivable for many hospitals.

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