Croatia’s national health insurer has opened a tender for 7,000 additional hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) treatments, aiming to shorten waiting lists for patients across the country before the end of 2026.
The Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) said its governing council approved the decision to issue the tender on 23 September, and the full tender documentation was published on 25 September. All of the additional hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments are to be delivered by 31 December 2026.
According to the regional breakdown reported by Croatian media, the largest share of the extra capacity is planned for Rijeka, with 3,300 treatments, followed by Osijek with 2,100, Zagreb with 1,100 and Split with 500. The tender is open to healthcare institutions that meet the required conditions, not to individual patients. HZZO has said that, when selecting providers, it will take into account the availability of care and each institution’s capacity, with the goal of distributing HBOT access more evenly across Croatia.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a medical procedure in which a patient breathes oxygen at a pressure higher than normal atmospheric pressure inside a specialised hyperbaric oxygen chamber. It is used in medical situations where increased oxygen delivery to tissues is required.
The new tender follows an earlier round. In April 2025, HZZO published a separate tender for HBOT services that distributed needs across the Zagreb, Osijek and Rijeka regions, with planned monthly volumes of 390, 270 and 60 treatments respectively. The current round is considerably broader, covering a total of 7,000 treatments through the end of the year.
The measure shows how waiting lists for hyperbaric oxygen therapy are being addressed through additional contracted capacity within a national health system, and it underlines the role that hyperbaric oxygen chambers and trained providers play in public healthcare planning. Further details on contracted providers and access arrangements will depend on the outcome of the tender.
Sources: Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) announcement of 25 September 2026; Croatia Week, “Croatia opens access to 7,000 more hyperbaric oxygen therapy treatments,” 27 September 2026; Croatian regional media reports on the HZZO tender, September 2026.