Knowledge is preserved

How “the old” become heroes once again

Andreas Kölbl (left), who until last year was the head of ophthalmology at the Horn Regional Hospital, also trains young doctors such as assistant doctor Rudolf Winklhofer when he retires.(Bild: LGA NÖ)

In the fight against the shortage of doctors and for quality, doctors like Andreas Kölbl are stepping up to the plate in their retirement. He is the "prototype" of the new senior mentoring model, which is now possible in Lower Austria and has already been imitated by several others in a short space of time. What this model looks like and why it helps patients in particular.

He was the "prototype" for whom the Lower Austrian Health Agency (LGA) developed a new job model in order to kill two birds with one stone: at the end of last year, Andreas Kölbl, the respected head of the eye department at Horn Hospital, retired. This meant that from one day to the next, not only his work performance but also almost 40 years of professional expertise were simply gone. And this had been common practice until then.