Milenko Lazarevic Death Chicago IL – Doctor Milenko Lazarevic, who was born in Belgrade and was likely the most well-known and well-liked physician among the Serbian and Balkan diaspora in Chicago, passed away unexpectedly.
The funeral’s time and location will be revealed later. Doctor Lazarevic passed away from multiple heart attacks.
According to the Serbian Times, Dr. Laza, as his patients nicknamed him, was well-liked by our immigrants and frequently the first medical professional they saw after coming to the country.
He was born in Montenegro and originally attended the University of Belgrade to complete his education in medicine. In 1989, he decided to move “across the pond” to Chicago in pursuit of a better life.
Here, he focused on internists and earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
I was meant to finish the two-year term and head back home. That’s what I had intended, but as that contract was coming to an end, horrible things began to happen, the conflict in the old Yugoslavia broke out, and I made the decision to stay put. In an interview with the Serbian Times, Dr. Lazarevic stated, “I continued to work as a doctor and specialized as an internist. I have had my own practice for 20 years.”
I never saw people differently because of their race, religion, or nationality; to me, they were all the same and in need of assistance. As it happens, individuals find it easier to trust someone who speaks their language fluently, which makes them feel safer and happier.
This is somewhat normal. As a result, almost 70% of my patients now are from the region that was formerly home to the Serbs, Bosniaks, Montenegrins, Croats, Macedonians, Slovenes, and Albanians, according to Dr. Lazarevic.
Balkan emigrants also knew Dr. Lazarevic’s clinic for doing medical examinations for Green Card applications, as he was the only physician from the former Yugoslavia licensed to do such work.