Ivanka Trstenjak Rajković
Episode · #172
ANAMNEZA Ivanka Trstenjak Rajković
Guest Ivanka Trstenjak RajkovićHosted by Zvonko ŠebMay 3, 2026
Ivanka Trstenjak Rajković
About this episode
What you'll hear in this conversation
Building a successful business in healthcare often means navigating a complex landscape of public need, private ambition, and bureaucratic inertia. Dr. Ivanka Trstenjak Rajković has spent nearly three decades at the forefront of this challenge, growing Poliklinika Medikol from a 250-square-meter clinic in Čakovec to Croatia's largest private diagnostic healthcare provider. As a pioneer in Croatian private healthcare, she shares the unique tensions of scaling a family business while constantly pushing against an administrative system slow to adapt. This conversation offers a rare glimpse into the resilience required to build a lasting institution in a sector where the mission is deeply personal, but the operating environment is anything but.
Insights from the conversation
What to take from this episode
01
Medikol began in 1994 as a 250-square-meter clinic with ten employees in Čakovec, eventually expanding to Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, and Osijek. The path to becoming the largest private diagnostic provider in a country isn't always through immediate scale, but often begins with a concentrated local presence before systematic expansion across regions.
02
Dr. Rajković describes Medikol as a "pioneer of entrepreneurship in Croatian healthcare," constantly facing an "existing administration that does not adapt to the declared demands of market development." Building a new private sector in a historically public domain means constantly pushing against administrative inertia and outdated regulations. Your ambition will always outpace the system's ability to adapt to new models.
03
Medikol consistently invested "large financial resources in the procurement and purchase of the most modern diagnostic medical equipment," now boasting 20 ultrasound, 5 CT, 4 MRI (including two 3T), and 4 PET CT machines. In specialized, high-stakes fields, leadership is less about market share and more about the continuous, heavy capital investment that defines the cutting edge of technology.
04
A key challenge for Medikol, even as a successful private provider, is the "growing deficit of healthcare staff," especially radiologists, exacerbated by a "continuous increased outflow of staff to richer healthcare systems." The market for specialized medical professionals is global, and local success doesn't always guarantee local retention.
05
Dr. Rajković views the healthcare system "exclusively from the perspective of those most in need: our patients," noting that while the law guarantees healthcare, "the problem is in its realization." The gap between a universal right to healthcare and its actual delivery creates the space for private providers. Solving the 'problem of realization' is the core value proposition.
06
Medikol is a family business, with Dr. Rajković and her husband at the helm for 26 years, having navigated "ups and downs that only those who have gone through a similar development can understand." Long-term business success, especially in family enterprises, isn't a linear ascent. The true test of resilience is sustaining leadership and ownership through decades of market and personal challenges.
07
Dr. Rajković credits Medikol's "positive spirit" to the "personal contribution of all our employees," fostering "mutual commitment and strong partnership of our employees and our patients." In a service industry like healthcare, the 'brand' isn't built solely on technology or scale. It's built on the daily interactions and the collective spirit of the team, fostering a patient-employee bond that drives long-term stability.