Medical Tourism In Croatia: The Best Clinics In Croatia

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Post author Ana

Written by our local expert Ana

Croatian born Ana is an avid traveler who is always looking for the next travel story from the Balkans to share. Her passion is creating travel itineraries and in-depth guides.

Most people visit Croatia to enjoy the stunning natural beauties and to relax; some come for the fantastic food, some want to experience an adventure or do sports, but what if there is more? Did you know that medical tourism in Croatia is on the rise?

You can enjoy many things in Croatia, and while you are here, you can also do something good for yourself and your health.

You may not know this, but dental tourism in Croatia is one area within the medical tourism industry that offers lots of options in Croatia. I recently documented my own dental experience in Croatia at Poliklinika Bagatin.

Bagatin Polyclinic

Dental Tourism In Croatia

It was founded in Zagreb in 1995 as the private practice of prof. Mario Bagatin, MD, a renowned plastic and maxillofacial surgeon.

In 2006. the practice was turned into a Polyclinic when taken over by his sons Dinko, who specialized in general and plastic surgery, Tomica, who is a maxillofacial surgeon, and Ognjen, who is Head of the Polyclinic. The goal of the Bagatin brothers is to preserve the reputation of the family name built by their father by running a Polyclinic known for innovation and top quality inpatient treatment.

The Bagatin Polyclinic is situated in the Green Gold Tower in Zagreb business district, very close to the central bus station and city center. The Polyclinic is specialized in aesthetics and offers a vast number of treatments in that area. Whether you’re looking for non-invasive facial or body treatments such as lasers, micro needling, dermal fillers, and anti-cellulite treatments or want to make a more significant change in your appearance by undergoing a surgical procedure, this Polyclinic offers it all.

The team that will make sure you leave this Polyclinic looking better currently consists of 3 surgeons, two dermatologists, and a dermatology resident. As the smile is a significant part of a person’s beauty, the latest addition to the offer of the Bagatin Polyclinic is the dentistry department. Six doctors of dental medicine cover the areas of implantology, oral surgery, prosthetics, periodontology and, of course, esthetic dentistry which includes fillings, veneers, teeth whitening and so much more.

At this year’s Medical Travel Summit in Opatija, the Polyclinic won the “International Cosmetic surgery clinic of the year” award. Something else that makes this Polyclinic stand out is definitely their Destination Guide, a guide in English describing the available treatments, international Congress’ participation, the role of the Polyclinic in medical tourism of Croatia, but also giving the reader all the necessary information about Zagreb as a tourist destination.

Knowing all of this, we can really say that, as a patient of the Bagatin Polyclinic, you can rest assured that you are in good hands and that everyone you know will be impressed by your new look once you return home.

Find More About Health Tourism in Croatia Here

Beyond Zagreb, there are some places on the Adriatic coast which offer more than just seaside fun and an excellent place to get a tan.

Terme Selce Health Clinic

Medical Tourism in Croatia- Terme Selce
Photo: Terme Selce Health Clinic

One of the pioneers of medical tourism in Croatia definitely deserves to be first on this list. Situated in the small town of Selce, approximately 35 km away from the city of Rijeka, it has been building their brand as the Mediterranean Source of Health for the past 25 years. It is most known for its physical therapy and rehabilitation programs, sports medicine and medicinal wellness.

Terme Selce Health Clinic have treated patients from 86 countries and six continents and taken care of the recovery of 120 world and Olympic champions, so you can really count on a star treatment when becoming a patient of this clinic.

The 35 employees of Terme Selce include specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation, rheumatology, cardiology, dermatology, neurology, orthopedics, surgery and radiology, highly trained nurses, physical therapists, masseuses, a kinesiologist, a psychologist and administrative staff.

The doctors are members of the Croatian Olympic Committee (HOO), International Ski Federation (FIS), European Olympic Committees (EOC) and other international associations. Terme Selce also offers full-service packages for their patients which include accommodation and meals inside the Clinic or in top quality hotels or private accommodation units nearby.

Whether you’re a professional athlete or just a person seeking for a fast end efficient recovery after an injury of surgery, the unique and personalized protocols made for you in Terme Selce Health Clinic will get you back in shape in no time.

T
his journey of recovery will be not only fast and efficient but also enjoyable thanks to the great staff of the Clinic. After you get your muscles and bones fit again, this clinic also offers various anti-age facial treatments done by a specialist in dermatology so you can return home not only feeling, but also looking younger.

Find more info here.

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Rident Dental Clinic

Rident - Medical Tourism in Croatia - Dentists in Croatia
Photo: Rident Dental Clinic

Just being one of the largest dental clinics in Croatia has brought a lot of popularity to Rident, but the top-notch quality of service is what makes their patients return and recommend this clinic and the fabulous Croatian dentist to family and friends.

There are more than 200 staff members in Rident: doctors, specialists, dental assistants, and dental technicians, so whether you’re just in need of a check-up or require a more comprehensive treatment in the fields of implantology, oral surgery, fixed and mobile prosthetics, orthodontics, periodontology, radiology or dental laboratory, you can be sure Rident is able to provide them all at the highest level of quality. Dental implantsin Croatia are offered at many places, but there is no better place that Rident Dental Clinic to get them. The clinic is situated in 2 very convenient locations.

Rident was founded in Rijeka in 2004, and that city is the location of the first and larger clinic consisting of 24 dental offices and two dental laboratories. The town of Rijeka is easy to reach by ground transport, but in the past few years, Rijeka Airport has begun to increase it’s activity, so each year more and more cities are connected by air to this wonderful and vibrant city. The location of the second clinic, which opened its doors to patients in 2013 is located at one the shiniest Croatian pearls, the town of Poreč.

The clinic in Poreč consists of 15 dental offices and a dental laboratory and is just a short drive away from Slovenia, Northern Italy, and Austria, but also quite easy to reach even for people arriving from places further away as the Airport in the city of Pula is just 45 minutes away by car.

After bringing back the beauty to your smile, Poreč is a great starting point for exploring Istria, a region well known for its beautiful coast, historical monuments and unusual places to wine & dine.

Get the details here.

Veli Lošinj Health Resort

Just getting away from the crowds and the stress of living in a large city can do wonders for your health, but when your getaway destination has a more than a 120-year long tradition of medical tourism, like Veli Losinj you’ve struck gold!

Veli Lošinj Health Resort has been known for many years for its successful treatment programs for psoriasis, allergies, asthma and other respiratory diseases.
The psoriasis treatment, created and conducted by a dermatologist, is mostly based on the beneficial effects of the sun and the sea on skin cell regeneration which results in the reduction of inflammation, itchiness, pain, and flaking of the skin. If you have problems with the respiratory system or skin issues, then you can be sure that just arriving at Veli Lošinj will be beneficial for you.

The unique microclimate, Mediterranean vegetation, pine tree forests and clean sea air combined with treatments in Veli Lošinj Health Resort will allow you to finally breathe properly again. The condition of people with allergies will also improve significantly after arriving to Veli Lošinj as the air there is extremely clean, potential allergens are almost nonexisting, and the mild climate has a very positive effect on the balancing of the immune system which results in inflammation reduction.

The resort has three accommodation options with a total capacity of 180 beds. The most interesting accommodation unit is Villa Elisabeth which is a castle from 1886 completely renovated in 2013. The villa has 28 double bedrooms, some of which can be interconnected by doors and turned into family rooms. The rooms are adapted to people with respiratory diseases of allergic etiology. The Veli Lošinj Health Resort’s recipe for good health is highly experienced medical staff combined with the unspoiled nature in its surroundings.

You should visit Lošinj and find out for yourself why it is called the island of vitality!

Book or read reviews here.

Polyclinic MarinMed

Poliklinika MarinMed - Medical Croatia Ideas
Photo: Poliklinika MarinMed

In the beautiful city of Dubrovnik, near the port of Gruž, various experts have united their knowledge to bring you world-class health tourism in Croatia. 

The doctors practicing at MarinMed Polyclinic cover a large area of expertise, they are specialists in radiology, internal medicine, surgery, plastic surgery, orthopedics, gynecology, physical therapy & medical rehabilitation, anesthesia, vascular surgery, urology.

A very important department in MarinMed is the International Spine Center in which doctors from Germany and Croatia are working together in performing minimally invasive spine surgery.

Another minimally invasive procedure performed in this Polyclinic is gastric sleeve surgery, a fairly quick procedure with short downtime of only 2-3 days which can bring a big change to the lives of obese people. It helps them change their eating habits which in the end, results in weight loss.

Some non-invasive cosmetic procedures are also available, primarily laser treatments which enable you to get rid off stretch marks, wrinkles, acne scars, unwanted body hair.

The list of procedures available at MarinMed Polyclinic is so long that it’s hard to find one they are not performing. International and Croatian doctors practicing medicine there will help you feel and look better, with doing their best to minimalize your time of recovery so you could still have time to enjoy the beauties of Dubrovnik and make the best out of your holiday.

Contact the team here.

Dental Center Dubravica

This dental center is situated in the small town of Vodice, near the city of Šibenik making finding a dentist in Croatia easy. It’s almost half way between the airports of Zadar and Split, both being just a bit over an hour’s drive away. It is a private specialized center with a vast variety of dental services including oral surgery, implantology, and cosmetic dentistry. The team of Dental center Dubravica consists of 8 doctors of dental medicine, lead by m.sc. Ivica Dubravica DMD, 9 dental assistants, 10 dental technicians and 10 members of staff working on the front desk or in accounting, marketing and coordination of admission.

This dental center is highly oriented towards tourists offering a number of benefits for patients arriving from abroad such as free transportation from the airports of Split and Zadar, as well as from bus stations in Šibenik, Zadar, and Split.

There are even double rooms available for the patients of this
Dental Center and their accompanying person, and it is free of charge during their entire therapy.

If you’d still rather stay in a hotel, great value deals can be arranged for you by the staff of Dental center Dubravica. After finding out about all the advantages of being treated in this amazing Dental Center and knowing the beauties of the region in whose center it is situated in, who wouldn’t want to become a patient? We’re sure you’ll start smiling again here, brighter than ever!


St. Catherine Special Hospital

St Catherine Hospital_Zagreb - Croatian Medical Tourism
Photo: St Catherine Hospital Zagreb

This special hospital for orthopedics, surgery, internal medicine, neurology, and physical medicine & rehabilitation is situated in Zabok, a city 45 minutes away by car from Zagreb, Croatia’s capital.

St. Catherine Hospital is equipped with state of the art diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitation infrastructure. The hospital is a member of the prestigious “The Leading Hospitals of The World“ family. It is the only hospital in this part of Europe which unites state of the art equipment with the latest treatment procedures, offers top quality diagnostics, excellent programs of therapy and surgery and individual rehabilitation programs.

St. Catherine is the official hospital of the Croatian Olympic Committee, as well as the Croatian Football Federation. In the Zabok hospital, there are six consultation rooms, a radiology department, five operating rooms, post-operative control rooms, an orthopedics department with 14 beds and a day clinic with five beds for one-day operations.

St. Catherine Special Hospital also has a smaller subsidiary in Zagreb and a unit in Split. Excellence is something this hospital strives for, in terms of constant education of medical teams in order for them to be able to apply the latest treatment techniques and in terms of patient care by always putting the patient’s privacy, comfort, and satisfaction first.

Some of the procedures this hospital is very proud of are definitely the use of adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in cartilage repair, the meniscal transplant which can dramatically slow the onset of arthritis and a very successful new biological treatment – replacing the meniscus with a synthetic implant.

According to the data available, this hospital has the lowest percentage of infections compared to any other hospital in South East Europe. For patients arriving from abroad, there are various services this hospital has to offer starting from online and offline consultations, help in planning their visit and cost evaluation, help with accommodation, transportation and acquiring a visa (if necessary), translation services, transfers during their stay in Croatia, insurance assistance.

It is the center of excellence for spinal surgery, pain management, and sports medicine. St. Catherine Special Hospital was pronounced the best private hospital in Croatia in 2015and is currently among the top 10 private hospitals in Europe, we think no additional recommendation is needed!

Read more about the hospital here.

Comments (12)

  1. I’m still generally speaking against it ! Basic procedures, with no risk of complications, ok, but any other procedure, with a risk of complications (yes they happen), or procedures that need some after care (yes there are) shouldn’t be in the touristic offer. Just think of what you doctor/dentist will say when you return home and have a complication. Medicine/dentistry should be performed at hóme, where you can álways count on whatever needed after care, and nót far away from it. Holidays are for vacations, holiday love affairs included, but don’t get pregnant , if you know what I mean.

    1. Hmm, I know what you mean, but these facilities are state-of-the art, its not like you are headed to some backyard buyer. And from what I am told, treatment here is much better than other parts of Europe (and wayyyy less expensive that Australia and USA).

    2. Of cóurse they are SJ, but still I prefer to see people to come for holidays to get a new mindset, not a dental implant or a nose job……….

    3. Pim de Vos … buddy i really dont have time for this…. enjoy your summer… and away from nose job joints????????

    4. Thanks Marijo, and remember, never start a discussion if you’re not willing to finish it. Lijepo pozdravi iz Svinisce/Modris.

  2. They do have good specialists, and treatment centres. I even went to a skin specialist in Travnik Bosnia, even though the hospital was very old, her treatments were good and extremely cheap.

  3. I never knew that Croatia has got these many facilities and I always knew Croatia as a tourist place.

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