Vienna (OTS) – “Many questions remain unanswered with the partial closure of the Lorenz Böhler Hospital, criticizes Barbara Huemer, health spokeswoman for the Vienna Green Party. “Will Böhler remain a public hospital and if so to this extent? We still need a hospital and an outpatient clinic at this location,” explains Huemer together with the deputy district leaders of Brigittenau and Leopoldstadt, Barbara Pickl and Bernhard Seitz.
“It’s not just about the relocation of acute trauma surgeries to the Meidling Trauma Center or the General Hospital, but also about the many planned orthopedic surgeries. It must not be the case that people in great pain have to wait any longer than before for necessary operations due to the lack of preparation for the closure of the hospital by AUVA and the City of Vienna. This is unnecessary suffering for patients. A further deterioration in health care for the people of Vienna is unacceptable,” said Huemer.
“Ensuring local medical care for the district population is important to us. The outpatient clinic at the Lorenz Böhler Hospital is an important point of contact in emergencies, especially for those people who cannot rely on their own doctor. The twentieth district is one of the lowest-income in Vienna. It would be irresponsible if these people were now deprived of the medical care that Lorenz Böhler has provided so far. We demand that the residents be comprehensively informed by letter,” demand Pickl and Seitz: “In a matter as important as health care, it is unreasonable that those affected have to gather the information themselves. The people in our districts want to know where they can go if they have questions about a planned operation and what the future campus plans of AUVA and the City of Vienna specifically mean for the Lorenz Böhler area.”
“The future of the many employees, especially non-medical staff, is also unclear. The information and resettlement plans only slowly trickle down to the workforce, patients and receiving hospitals. Many people don’t know whether and for how long they will still have a job and a fixed income. The announced container hospital at the Brigittenau trauma center from 2025 leads to the question of what will happen until then and whether the container hospital will then run to its full extent as before. Here too, there is a lack of information and clarification so far.
“The Böhler debacle is a leadership and management error at all levels, which is at the expense of the health care of the people of Vienna. It is clear and predictable that with news like this – a hospital is closing its ward operations – the emotional waves run high. The AUVA leadership should have prepared accordingly and the alarm bells should also have rung among those responsible in the city of Vienna in the preliminary discussions. Instead, there is pure lack of planning,” concludes Huemer.
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