In 1997, the gradual rebuilding of the Styrian hospital structure began. While Graz was fortified, the rural areas have thinned out to this day. Financial advantage? Doubtful.
“Every time the newspaper reads about a possible closure or performance reduction, some employees resign,” says Peter Ruckenstuhl, works councilor at the LKH Bad Radkersburg, from painful experience. “And we’ve talked a lot about that in recent years,” he adds. “It is sometimes said that you are out of staff and have to close.”
This downward spiral is well known – much to the chagrin of the workforce and the general public. Instead of honestly laying the cards on the table, they dismantle bit by bit – and with arguments that sometimes seem constructed: “There was a top knee surgeon in the LKH Bad Aussee, patients came to him from all over Styria. Until suddenly it was said that he was only allowed to do a limited number of operations per year because there was no money left for prostheses,” says a retired doctor from the region. “Later, De Kages tells the staff through the media that the number of cases and the quality are not correct.”
A fate that has befallen many houses: from surgery in Mürzzuschlag to maternity ward in Voitsberg to orthopedics in Bad Radkersburg, the future of which is currently trembling.
“We can’t offer everything in every house”
Kages boss Gerhard Stark emphasizes that reasons that are often beyond our control make unpopular measures necessary: “The specialization in medicine is advancing rapidly. For that reason alone, we can no longer offer everything in every hospital.” Specialized hospitals, on the other hand, need larger catchment areas to ensure proper occupancy. In addition, the next generation of doctors would be different, working time laws would have changed and there would no longer be such a demand in rural regions.
Cost-benefit calculation with a big question mark
As of December 31, 2021, Styria’s debt burden has risen to EUR 5.086 billion. When asked to the 100 percent state-owned Styrian hospital operator what all these merger measures would ultimately have achieved financially, the following information was obtained: In 2017, the Kages incurred total costs of approximately EUR 1.5 billion, in 2020 it was 1.7 billion euros. According to the press service, the increase is due to “medical progress, which costs something, as well as rising wage costs”. Older comparative figures are not given at all.
With neglected basic care in the periphery, another avalanche of costs is rolling into the country: the number of rescue trips and patient transport is increasing from year to year – and the rescue helicopters have to take off more and more.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
