Outpatient clinic at LKH Bruck

Hospital dispute: Now the SPÖ fires back sharply

The two SPÖ members of parliament Stefan Hofer and Hannes Schwarz (photo montage).

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/LT Stmk/Fischer)

In the struggle over the future of the accident and emergency department in Bruck, the battle between doctors and SPÖ representatives is heating up. After being attacked, the red party leader Hannes Schwarz and the mayor of Turnau, Stefan Hofer, are vehemently defending themselves.

For the medical director of Hochsteiermark Regional Hospital, Erich Schaflinger, and hospital doctors' representative Uwe Spitzer, there is no way around no longer being able to provide outpatient care for acute patients in Bruck from January 13th. Reason: lack of staff. Only check-ups and the treatment of minor injuries will be possible.

The SPÖ in particular is opposed to this and has also announced protests. The statement by Schaflinger and Spitzer, according to which Hannes Schwarz and Stefan Hofer had known about the upcoming changes for weeks, led to harsh reactions from the two politicians.

"An absolute no-go"
"I was very surprised by the doctors' statement. What I remember most from the meeting with Health Minister Kornhäusl was the statement 'Everything will be great in Bruck'," said Stefan Hofer, Member of Parliament and Mayor of Bruck, to the Krone newspaper. He had spoken to Schaflinger and Spitzer on the phone in the past few days and emphasized "that an end to the acute outpatient clinic is an absolute no-go. We even included Spitzer's suggestion that a permanent presence of an anesthesiologist and an ortho-traumatologist was necessary to maintain the outpatient clinic in our resolution."

Hofer continues: "If attempts are now made to silence critics of the cage system like me, those who know me know that I will not put up with it: I will not put up with it." Instead, Kages should take the concerns of the local population seriously and prevent further staff redundancies.

"Failures of the regional management"
Hannes Schwarz also speaks out - and repeats a statement from December 6: "There is no question that our healthcare system needs reforms. As the SPÖ, we have always supported these sensible reforms and will continue to do so. But one thing is clear: we will not accept the closure of the accident surgery outpatient clinic in Bruck under any circumstances. The preservation of this facility was and is the basis for the structural measures in the Hochsteiermark network. The population must not suffer from the failings of the regional management."