The director of Zagreb's Sveti Duh hospital, Ana Marija Simundic, tendered an irrevocable resignation on Monday due to a "merciless campaign" she says has been waged against her over the past year and which is causing "increasing" damage to the hospital, its staff and patients.

In her letter of resignation, Simundic says that behind the campaign against her was a group of anonymous hospital staff that resorted to anonymous criminal complaints and “enjoyed strong and effective support in powerful allies outside the hospital.”

She says the complaints were followed by inspections and that the same group also threatened her, which she reported to the police.

Simundic is confident her resignation is in the best interest of the hospital founded by the City of Zagreb.

She says the “merciless, unscrupulous” campaign against her and her close associates, aimed at discrediting them as “unprofessional, corrupt and incompetent”, was launched by those whose “personal, ideological and political interests” were jeopardised by her decisions.

Simundic notes that last year the hospital had a €8 million higher revenue than in 2021 and that revenue in the first quarter of this year was 30% higher than in the preceding quarter.

During her term, she says, waiting lists have been shortened and the hospital resumed performing abortions after seven years.

The hospital was reported to the USKOK anti-corruption office in May for medical malpractice and test result forgery. In April, the hospital was in the news after the publication of a photo showing several bodies on the floor of its morgue.

In her resignation, Simundic denies all the “malicious insinuations” in the criminal complaints.