- It is a sincere honour to welcome you on 19 February, the anniversary of the birth of Zsuzsanna Kossuth, our country's first national chief nurse, and also on the occasion of the Hungarian Nurses' Day. Today's festive event is an opportunity for us to commemorate the intellectual legacy of the great predecessor and to acknowledge the work of the most outstanding staff of the Clinical Centre in a worthy manner – said Zoltán Szabó, President of the Clinical Centre of the University of Debrecen, in his speech.
The professor recalled that during the 1848/49 War of Independence, Zsuzsanna Kossuth was appointed head nurse of the camp hospitals by her brother, Lajos Kossuth. Her pioneering work laid the cornerstones of nursing in Hungary, with the establishment of some 72 field hospitals. As a result of her approach that was ahead of her time and forward thinking, she introduced a system of patient care that was unique in Europe. He travelled the country tirelessly, recruiting nurses and taking an active part in patient care.
- In recognition of her work, Zsuzsanna Kossuth's name has become a symbol, and her creed and values are still influential today. You are acting day after day as heirs of the great ancestor, respecting the legacy of the past. You manifest unstinting work to serve patients, sometimes in the most challenging of professions. Together with the physicians of the Clinical Centre, you provide a rock-solid foundation for the functioning of the University's patient care system, without which high quality, and European-class healthcare would not be possible – said the President of the Clinical Centre.
Zoltán Szabó added: with the establishment of the integrated clinical patient care system in 2023, the most significant structural transformation in the history of the Clinical Centre was completed, as a result of which the institution became one of the most significant healthcare institutions in Hungary and the Central European region with an annual patient volume of more than four million, about 3,500 patient beds and more than 7,000 employees on three campuses. The President of the Clinical Centre explained that with the completion of the organisational integration, the medical, infrastructural and curatorial developments will continue in order to ensure that the dynamic development of recent years can be realised on an even broader scale and at an even higher level.
- The new integrated system will also provide a solid basis for the emergence and further development of the university's role on all campuses, integrating the triple principle of education, research, and care. In the field of university education, I would like to emphasise the high quality of the educational activities of the Balásházy János Practical Technical College, Gymnasium and College of the University of Debrecen. The school provides the stable human resources necessary for the further development of the Clinical Centre in the framework of medical vocational training – said the professor.
On the occasion of the Hungarian Nurses' Day, nine health workers received the Outstanding Employee Medal and Reward Award of the Clinical Centre for their outstanding and exemplary performance in the field of patient care over several years:
- Imre Gál, Patient Management Assistant at the Spa Centre
- Erika Juhászné Rohács, nurse of the Oncology Clinic
- Andrea Kiss, Emergency Nurse, GTIC Emergency Care Unit
- Márta Kőszegi, midwife at the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Clinic
- Csabáné György Mozga, graduate nurse at the Department of Internal Medicine
- Mária Nagy, Clinical Chemistry Assistant, Laboratory Medicine
- Katalin Pelyvás, Assistant, Graduate Nurse, Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Clinic
- Mária Ildikó Szabó, Medical Coordinator of the Neurology Department of GTIC
- Ms András Török, Graduate Nurse, Department of Rheumatology and Immunology
The President of the Clinical Centre awarded an honorary certificate to Ibolya Csege, Head Nurse of the Dental Clinic, Mihályne Lisztes, Head Nurse of the Operative Matrix Surgery Department of the Gróf Tisza István Campus and Mária Sarkadiné Bodogán, Head Nurse of the Child Psychiatry Department of the Kenézy Gyula Campus in recognition of their exemplary, outstanding, conscientious and dedicated work over several decades.
On the occasion of the ceremony, two specialists of the Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Clinic, Edit Fiák and Katalin Brigitta Unterberger, received their appointment as Chief Clinical Physicians for their outstanding and nationally recognised work in the field of patient care.
