Danijel Bešič Loredan
Coronavirus disease COVID-19
Current information, instructions and entry restrictions are available on the Coronavirus disease COVID-19 website

Author: Tamino Petelinšek / STA
Danijel Bešič Loredan, MD, specialist in orthopaedic surgery, was born on 18 May 1973 in Koper. He completed primary school in Izola, general upper secondary school (gimnazija) in Koper, and graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ljubljana in 1991.
In 2001, he joined the Orthopaedic Hospital as a specialist trainee in orthopaedic surgery, and in 2006 he passed his specialist exam with distinction. Subsequently, he continued working as a specialist at Valdoltra Orthopaedic Hospital. He has specialised in lower limb surgery, artificial hip and knee joint replacement and the treatment of complications after such surgeries. He underwent many years of further training and education in ankle and foot surgery. Most of his training in this field was completed in Switzerland. In the years 2008 to 2011, he successfully introduced ankle and foot surgery to Valdoltra Orthopaedic Hospital and to Slovenia. In 2011, he and a group of internationally renowned experts organised one of the best ankle and foot surgery courses in Slovenia.
In 2013, he and a group of doctors founded and led the Doctors' Initiative, which in 2013 profoundly exposed the workings of the Slovenian healthcare system. For his activities, he was named the Primorska Region Person of Year in January 2013. At the end of 2013, he ended his work at Valdoltra Orthopaedic Hospital, and from September 2013 until the end of 2015 he worked in Switzerland, in 2014 as a specialist in ankle and foot surgery at the Berit Klinik, Teufen. In 2015, he worked as an orthopaedic surgeon at Spittal Heiden Hospital. From 2016 to 2021, he worked at Dr Franc Derganc General Hospital in Šempeter pri Gorici, from 1 September 2018 to 1 September 2019 as Head of the Surgery Department, and from 2020 as Head of the Orthopaedics Department. Before being appointed to the position of Minister of Health, he worked at the Bitenc Surgery and the Šalara Medical Centre in Koper.
In 2018, he and a group of like-minded individuals founded the movement Skupaj naprej (Together Forward), of which he was also president and which in 2018 took part in the parliamentary elections as a political party.
In addition to the above, he also has experience with the medical humanitarian organisation "Doctors Without Borders (MSF)". In 2010, he completed a five-week mission in Nigeria as a surgeon.
As a doctor in the healthcare system, he has gained comprehensive insight into the functioning of such system. As early as in 2013, he and a team of experts proposed many useful solutions to improve the functioning of the healthcare system. He has been publicly present in Slovenian society since the beginning of the Slovenian Doctors' Initiative, monitoring problems in the healthcare system, drawing attention thereto and proposing solutions.
In the Freedom Movement political party, he led the group that formulated a new healthcare programme, which received a mandate from the people in the parliamentary elections. He successfully led the coalition negotiations on healthcare, which plays an important role in the coalition agreement.
Danijel Bešič Loredan is an outstanding expert in his field, and is recognised and respected in society. He has exceptional organisational skills, excels at handling difficult and challenging situations, and has a positive attitude, all of which are undoubtedly useful qualities for a Minister of Health.