LGA board expanded

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Elisabeth Bräutigam brings female power to the management team of the Lower Austrian Health Agency LGA.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com, Daniela Matejschek)

"We have clearly made a stroke of luck." Elisabeth Bräutigam, who studied law and medicine, comes from Upper Austria. The lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine sees the long-term safeguarding of medical care through the "Health Pact" as her primary goal - in what are not exactly easy times.

At the beginning of September, the Lower Austrian Health Agency LGA strengthened its Board of Directors. New in office, Elisabeth Bräutigam has now explained in St. Pölten how she plans to optimize processes in her area. The new woman in the management trio with Konrad Kogler and Alfred Zens certainly doesn't lack experience. "Decades ago, the principle was: everyone has the right to a well-rested doctor," the law and medicine graduate begins her remarks. The reduction in working hours a few years ago was the first step in this direction.

"Making the healthcare sector more fit for the future than ever"
The Upper Austrian now responsible for the areas of medicine and nursing sees her particular focus and challenges on the one hand in the increasing specialization of medical fields: one example is the ever more differentiated cancer research. On the other hand, we are facing a demographic challenge.

Impending (job) loss of the "baby boomer generation " 
The retirement of the baby boomer generation could lead to large job gaps. "According to forecasts, a third of Lower Austrians will be over 65 by 2035, the number of births is falling and the number of care cases is rising. In addition, expectations in the world of work have changed - the desire for part-time work is increasing," says Provincial Councillor Ludwig Schleritzko. He counters the criticism of a bloated management level: "In an organization with 28,000 employees, and in the important healthcare sector at that, the organizational structure is perfectly acceptable."