More heart operations

Bruck takes big step for Styrian heart operations

Erich Schaflinger, Medical Director of LKH Hochsteiermark, and Gert Klug, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, are visibly proud of the new operating table.(Bild: Juergen Radspieler)

A milestone is set at Hochsteiermark LKH: a new table for cardiac catheter examinations makes it possible to treat 1000 additional patients per year. This is also an important confirmation for the Bruck an der Mur site, which has recently been hit by turbulence.

With an average age of 50, a particularly large number of elderly people live in the north of Styria. According to estimates, the proportion of over 65-year-olds will be around 30 percent by 2050. As a result, vascular diseases will become more common and heart treatment will become an increasingly urgent necessity.

Under these circumstances, Erich Schaflinger, Medical Director of the LKH Hochsteiermark, calls the expansion of the cardiology department announced on Wednesday a "milestone". More than 40,000 cardiac catheter examinations have already been carried out in Bruck, and with a second operating table, 1000 more are possible every year. At the same time, this means care insurance for patients and a reduction in the workload of the Graz hospitals. And: "This means that more young internists can be trained," says Gert Klug, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine. Five new positions are to be created.

Erich Schaflinger, Medical Director of LKH Hochsteiermark, Gert Klug, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine, and Karlheinz Kornhäusl (ÖVP), State Councillor for Health, in the new cardiac catheterization laboratory.(Bild: Paller)

"I want Styrians to be treated more quickly," emphasizes Regional Health Councillor Karlheinz Kornhäusl (ÖVP). Waiting times for less urgent operations had skyrocketed. Patients have to be patient despite the pressure on their chest and dwindling capacity. The operating room puts an end to this with a large table and high-tech equipment: "During a cardiac catheter procedure, blood flow in the coronary arteries is repaired," explains Klug.

Cooperation between cardiologists planned
The fact that the capacities are being expanded also means relief for the LKH University Hospital and LKH Graz-West. "This will be a relief for us because we will be able to outsource patients and thus reduce our waiting times," says Wolfgang Weihs, Head of Cardiology and Intensive Care Medicine at LKH West. The existing structures are already being fully utilized - by transferring patients, we can specialize even better. Gabor Toth-Gayor, Head of Cardiac Catheterization at the University Hospital, also says: "We now have more capacity for complex procedures."

I want Styrians to be treated faster. That's why we are taking the path of working together.

Karlheinz Kornhäusl, Landesrat für Gesundheit, Pflege und Sport (ÖVP)

Above all, however, this expansion is a commitment to Bruck as a location. Regarding the many rumors about a closure or savings, Schaflinger says: "That's absolute nonsense." 60 million euros invested by Kages in the site is probably confirmation of this. "What is happening in Bruck is a pioneering achievement," says Gerhard Stark, CEO of Kages.

This means that Styria now has three reliable hospitals when it comes to heart surgery. A new center for rhythmology will also soon be established in Bruck. Major surgical procedures will be transferred to the Leoben site in future.