The development of health care in Vrnjačka Banja has a tradition of over 150 years. The first spa doctor who recommended treatment in Vrnjačka Banja to his patients was Josif Pančić, and the first patient who was treated here in 1860 on his recommendation was Pavle Mutavdžić, head of the Kruševac District.
Since then, the natural and balneoclimatological factor Vrnjačka Banja abounds in has been used to treat diabetes, digestive diseases, liver diseases, urinary tract diseases, skin diseases, eye diseases, nervous system diseases, as well as to improve general health.
From the 1920s, when Vrnjačka Banja received the first major sanatorium, “Sveti Đorđe”, until today, apart from using mineral water for healing purposes, centers for hospitalization, laboratories and diagnostic centers with state-of-the-art equipment have been developed.
In addition, there is a long tradition of spa doctors who studied at prestigious European universities in Vienna, Graz, Nancy, and Moscow, and today professors of the Faculty of Medicine come to work in Vrnjačka Banja: urologists, gastroenterologists, endocrinologists, cardiologists, radiologists, physiatrists.
Today, spa treatment is provided at the Special Hospital for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Digestive System Diseases and Diabetes “Merkur.”
This healthcare institution conducts scientifically verified methods of diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation, uses professional-methodological and doctrinal criteria and provides preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitation services in outpatient and inpatient settings.
Applying the methods of modern balneotherapy, physical medicine and rehabilitation, this institution for prevention, treatment and rehabilitation treats patients for gastrointestinal, endocrine and metabolic, urologic, respiratory tract, as well as some cardiovascular, gynecological and rheumatic diseases, children diseases indicated for treatment in Vrnjačka Banja and sports medicine diseases.
