Head of Ljubljana's main hospital applies for the job he already holds

Seven applications arrived by 29 September in response to the call for a director general of the University Medical Centre (UKC) Ljubljana, Slovenia's largest hospital. Candidates who did not submit complete applications will be asked to complete them, and presentations before the hospital's governing board are planned for next week. The board will meet on Thursday, but it will not deal with the call for applications then.

Among the seven applicants is Tomaž Erjavec, who has led UKC Ljubljana as acting director since 12 September, until 15 December at the latest, or until a new director is appointed, if that happens sooner.

"The selection committee for the appointment of the director general of UKC Ljubljana found that seven applications had arrived by 29 September." (translated)

Erjavec took the post after the resignation of Marko Jug, whom the board dismissed on 11 September, a day after the government also gave its consent to the dismissal. Jug offered his resignation at the end of August, after the government had just beforehand replaced all four of the founder's representatives on the board, which he himself understood as a clear message.

On his resignation, the doctors' union Fides said that Jug had not met the goals they expected him to meet when he took up his term in 2022.

"In our assessment, the management did not succeed in distancing itself enough from political interests and from a political discourse that was often hostile to doctors, nor in preserving the necessary professional autonomy." (translated)

Erjavec, who succeeded Jug, is not known to the wider public. Board chair Matjaž Trontelj said when Erjavec was appointed that he is an expert in information solutions. According to the Society of Slovenes Educated Abroad Vtis, Erjavec studied at Harvard Business School and works in the fields of entrepreneurship and medicine. He is also a member of the government's strategic council for the economy. At the programme conference of the Demokrati party last November, he presented the vision of Smart Slovenia 2034, in which innovation zones would allow rapid testing of new models of schooling, healthcare, public administration and energy.

"Erjavec, who is not known to the wider public, will, in his words, introduce himself at a press conference at the start of next week." (translated)

So he is now one of seven candidates for a post he is temporarily holding himself, and the decision on who gets it will be made by the same board that put Erjavec in the job in September. Whether any of the other six candidates believe they have a real chance is not known. Meanwhile, the chair is already warm.