Pro Bono, a clinic and advice bureau for people without health insurance, this year celebrates the 10th anniversary of its work.

On Wednesday morning, 18 April 2012, in the Red Hall at City Hall, Mayor Zoran Janković hosted a reception to mark the 10th anniversary of the work of Pro Bono, the clinic and advice bureau for people without health insurance.

10 years ago, the free Pro Bono Clinic in Ljubljana started work at the initiative of the City of Ljubljana, Ljubljana Health Centre, Slovenian Philanthropy and Štepanja vas Diocesan Caritas. The accord on the operation of the clinic was signed on 17 June 2002 by then-Mayor of Ljubljana Viktorija Potočnik, the President of Slovenian Philanthropy Dr Anica Mikuš Kos, the representative of Štepanja vas Diocesan Caritas Miro Meden and the then-Director of Ljubljana Health Centre Dr Zvonko Rauber. The Pro Bono Clinic had begun work at Mislejeva 3 in Savsko naselje as early as 7 January 2002.

It is intended above all for people without the status of permanent residence and who thus lack proper basic health insurance and citizens of the City of Ljubljana that do not have proper health insurance.

The principal co-financier of the Pro Bono Clinic is the City of Ljubljana; Ljubljana Health Centre undertakes its healthcare activities; Slovenian Philanthropy mainly looks after social work, while Caritas takes care of users’ hygiene care. The Clinic is also supported by many donors in the form of medicines, medical aids and financing.

The Pro Bono Clinic is at Mislejeva 3 (Savsko naselje) and open from Monday to Friday. A nurse and social worker are in regular employment there, with assistance from the work of more than 56 volunteers of whom the majority are doctors, some nurses and chemists and with help from Slovenian Philanthropy members. The Clinic also offers users legal and social assistance towards integration into regular life.

The Pro Bono Clinic also has a bathroom, where users are able to have a proper wash or bath and to change their clothes.

You can find out more about Pro Bono, the clinic and advice bureau for people without health insurance at the following link.