High fluctuation

LKH Hochsteiermark: Managers leave the hospital

Kages boss Gerhard Stark (photo) has to deal with further departures in the Upper Styrian hospital group.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Christian Jauschowetz)

LKH Hochsteiermark, the second priority hospital in Styria after Graz, is not resting on its laurels. Now two managers are leaving at once: the operations director and a nursing manager are leaving the hospital. Meanwhile, time is pressing for closer cooperation with LKH Murtal. 

After dozens of redundancies, the staff resorted to the last resort: an entire department submitted a notice of overwork to their employer, Kages. The reason: there was "imminent danger" for staff and therefore for patients.

The mood could be better
In the meantime, a lot of water has flowed down the Mur and the workload for the remaining staff at Hochsteiermark Regional Hospital - consisting of the hospitals in Bruck, Leoben and Mürzzuschlag - has reportedly only improved moderately after several attempts at reform: "While there is a real scramble for operating theatre slots in Leoben, there is still no future-oriented concept for Bruck. The mood among the staff is correspondingly poor," summarizes one employee.

Harald Kapeller was an enthusiastic and visionary director. Personally, I am sorry to see him go.

Erich Schaflinger, ärztlicher Direktor des LKH Hochsteiermark

The fact that Harald Kapeller, Administrative Director of the Upper Styrian Hospital Association, and the Head of Nursing at the Bruck site are now also throwing in the towel only fits the picture for outsiders.

"Amicable separation"
The medical director Erich Schaflinger contradicts this: "Both separations are amicable, our operations director wants to move on to new tasks, that is to be accepted". The more difficult working conditions in the course of the difficult structural measures are not related to this.

Erich Schaflinger, Medical Director at LKH Hochsteiermark.

(Bild: Peter Bernthaler)

"We will fill the gaps," commented Kages boss Gerhard Stark on the latest developments to the "Krone" newspaper. We have to adapt in "so many places, the high level of dynamism demands a lot from us". Overall, there is still "very, very much to do."

Cooperation with LKH Murtal
As LKH Hochsteiermark is still struggling with an acute shortage of anaesthetists, Schaflinger is currently pushing for increased cooperation with LKH Murtal: "The official application to the Kages Board and the Regional Health Council is out, now we are waiting for the decision".

Incidentally, there was no response to the debit note for months. This time, the hope is for more speed - Schaflinger: "The concepts must be ready by the end of May, and by September at the latest we need to know who will be working where."