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Outpatient clinic in Bruck: Now comes the “chill pill”

The accident and emergency department in Bruck will be cut back on January 13.(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian)

After days of debate, the hospital company Kages has made it clear: minor injuries will continue to be treated in the Bruck accident and emergency department, but seriously injured patients will be sent to Leoben or Graz. A lead hospital debate has now also broken out in the Murtal. 

In the heated debate about the future of the accident and emergency department at Bruck Regional Hospital, which has been smouldering for days, the Kages management spoke out for the first time on Wednesday afternoon. They made it clear: patients will continue to be treated daily from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. after minor accidents, for example cuts and ankle injuries. Check-ups are also carried out. After serious accidents, patients are already sent to the hospitals in Leoben and Graz.

Initially, the public had the impression that from 13 January, only patients with appointments would be treated at the outpatient clinic in Bruck. Kages now wants to put this right.

Debate about lead hospital in the Mur Valley
The medical director of LKH Hochsteiermark, Erich Schaflinger, in particular, is putting pressure on politicians to bring about rapid structural reforms - and has the other primary physicians and the board of directors from his network (Leoben, Bruck, Mürzzuschlag) behind him. They signed a letter to this effect, which is available to the "Krone".

Schaflinger recently outlined care plans that include the Murtal Regional Hospital, which currently has three hospitals in Judenburg, Knittelfeld and Stolzalpe. He even advocates the construction of a central hospital (in Judenburg or Knittelfeld). This in turn is sharply criticized by the regional SPÖ - and curiously targets the FPÖ and ÖVP, who in fact have nothing to do with these plans. 

Schaflinger receives backing from Kages CEO Gerhard Stark: in an ORF interview, he sees a lead hospital as "a solution" for future healthcare provision. He defends the change in Bruck: the region will benefit from an improvement in quality.