[Remembrance of the Metković War Hospital (1991-1996): on occasion of the twentieth anniversary of its foundation].

The valley of the Neretva river, inhabited with about forty thousand people, is over one hundred kilometres away from the nearest hospital, which becomes particularly problematic in cases of mass casualties. During the Liberation War from January 1991 to June 1996, the War Hospital Metković was organized in the Neretva valley region. This paper deals with the activities of this hospital. The documentary basis for this paper consists of surgery protocols, records of day-clinic checkups at the War Hospital Metković, articles from the press of the period, private correspondence and secondary sources. In the analysed period, 1.831 people wounded in war were successfully treated in this hospital, and there were also 12.000 one-time checkups. The work and activities of war hospitals represent important chapters in the history of medicine. Research of the organization and functioning of these institutions contributes to the development of insights and experiences regarding organized medical care in the zone of immediate war activities.