End for hospital in Vienna

Hacker: AUVA should “get the bosses under control”

Vienna's City Councillor for Health Peter Hacker reminds the AUVA of its legal obligations to provide medical care due to the closure of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital. If this is a "problem" for the AUVA, Hacker wants to "hold Health Minister Johannes Rauch to account".

(Bild: APA, Krone KREATIV)

Following the definitive closure of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital in Vienna at the beginning of April, City Councillor for Health Peter Hacker is insisting that agreements with the AUVA be adhered to and is threatening to put his foot down with the Minister of Health if necessary.

In the struggle for solutions to the closure of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital in Vienna, nerves are on edge: AUVA Director General Alexander Bernart sees the city as a blocker, there is disagreement at the General Hospital as to whether Böhler teams are welcome there, politicians are looking for culprits among their opponents and the Medical Association does not want to accept the closure as such. In view of the turmoil, City Councillor for Health Peter Hacker demands that AUVA Chairman Mario Watz "get his act together".

"No deviation from the plan"
There is "no deviation from the plan", Hacker insists to the "Krone": it has been agreed with the AUVA that it will take over the previous scope of services of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital itself, above all in the Meidling UKH and other AUVA hospitals, but also with the involvement of religious order hospitals and the AKH, where the city has arranged unused premises.

The end of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital is sealed: There will be no resurrection after Easter

(Bild: Martin Jöchl)

Round table a possibility for Hacker
Hacker is even open to the Medical Association's proposal for a round table under the leadership of Mayor Michael Ludwig. The Medical Association envisages that, in addition to its representatives, "the city politicians, the AUVA management, the works council and the medical management of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital" should get down to business. Although Hacker is skeptical about the possible results of such a round table, he wants to leave no stone unturned on the road to solutions.

I have a promise from the AUVA chairman that operations will continue on an interim basis and that there will be a new hospital in Brigittenau afterwards.

Gesundheitsstadtrat Peter Hacker

And what if the AUVA still can't "get a grip on things"? Hacker: "Then the AUVA will obviously have a problem providing the healthcare services it is obliged to provide by law. In theory, the Minister of Health is therefore responsible." Before this happens, however, the AUVA Board of Directors will probably "ensure order", Hacker assumes.

AUVA is contrite
In a recent statement, the AUVA apologized for its information policy towards its own staff as well as patients and promised improvement: all planned and acutely necessary operations would be carried out, and a concept for the interim division of the Böhler teams should be in place by 9 March at the latest. However, the hospital staff feel that they have been left alone with such promises for the time being: On Monday, the AUVA management still had no answers to questions from doctors and nursing staff as to what could be promised to patients.

The staff were only officially informed of the imminent closure on Monday.

(Bild: zVg)

Staff have had enough of vague promises
The workforce is not only worried about where and with whom they will be working in four weeks' time - but whether they will be working at all: AUVA only wants to confirm that no job cuts are "planned". The workforce is not prepared to accept this. If necessary, they want to use strikes to force a "written promise that everyone will keep their contracts".

The responsibility for the drama is obvious, at least for expert Kern: the fire protection coating was applied during the hospital renovation in the 1990s: "It is clear that the work was not done properly and that the responsibility lies with the relevant companies. Questions of liability and compensation must be clarified legally."