Military Medical Academy (Serbia)

The Military Medical Academy (Војномедицинска академија / Vojnomedicinska akademija), is a military hospital center in the Banjica neighborhood of Belgrade, Serbia, founded in 1844. It was moved into a new building in 1982 which is the biggest single hospital edifice in Serbia.

It is a part of the military of Serbia and is generally intended to serve the officers and soldiers, although it is open for civilians as well. It is known for its high standard in medical practice and is generally considered to be the best medical institution in the country and the region.

The current Head of the Military Medical Academy is Brigadier general Marijan Novaković.

History
The Military Medical Academy celebrates the March 2, 1844 as its founding date. On that day Prince Alexander Karađorđević signed a decree establishing the first Central Military Hospital on the foundations of the military hospital in Belgrade.

In 1909 began the construction of a new building of the General Military Hospital, with 400-bed health care, in Vračar. It was planned to be the most advanced hospital in the Balkans.

The hospital, changed its name once again into the Main Military Hospital in 1930. It operated under the Health Department of the Defence Ministry of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.

In 1949 the hospital was finally renamed the Military Medical Academy, the name it bears to this date. In 1960 the Parliament of Yugoslavia passed an Act on the Military Medical Academy as the top military medical, educational and medical research institution.

The Military Medical Academy moved into a newly constructed building in 1982. This building is the biggest single hospital edifice in Serbia.

As of 2007 the Military Medical Academy is functionally integrated into the National Health System thus providing health care to civilians too. This agreement was made between the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia.

Building
The Military Medical Academy complex covers the area of 21 hectares. It is located on the Banjica hill area of Belgrade. It was designed by the award-winning architects Colonel Josip Osojnik and Slobodan Nikolić. Their project won the competition in 1973. The construction was finished in 1981 and the hospital officially moved into a new building and began operations on January 1, 1982.

The hospital building itself is a 14-story building covering 180.000 square meters of space divided in more than 60 different technical-technological entities with 6.000 premises.

Awards and recognitions
The Military Medical Academy bears many decorations, awards, recognitions and letters of thanks of which the most significant are the following:


 * Order of St. Sava, first order
 * Order of Brotherhood and Unity with the gold wreath granted by the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1990)
 * Medal of Republika Srpska (1993)
 * Medal of Nikola Tesla, first order
 * Medal of Republika Srpska sash (2013)
 * Superbrand of Serbia in the health & beauty domain, 2007
 * The best of Serbia award by the Economy Chamber of the Republic of Serbia
 * The best corporative brand in the field of medicine and health care by the Economic Review and the Ministry of Trade and Services
 * "22nd December" prize for architecture of the hospital complex