UKH building

Kinberger: “Don’t want luxury apartments”

The Salzburg Accident Hospital is centrally located and therefore has a very good and sought-after location in the city of Mozart.(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The central location of the Salzburg Accident Hospital would certainly be tempting for the rich. As is well known, the hospital is moving to the site of the provincial hospital. The Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) could also be interested in the site.

With the Kapuzinerberg in the background, the Volksgarten and fortress within sight and the old town just a few minutes' walk away, the location of Salzburg's accident hospital on the Karolingerbrücke is fantastic. What happens when the hospital moves to the state hospital site? There are several possibilities. The owner, the General Accident Insurance (AUVA), sells the site to real estate developers, in which case luxury apartments would presumably be built, as is the case in the surrounding area. "That would be the worst thing," says Thomas Kinberger from ÖGK.

Even if private doctors were to move into the existing clinic, most people in Salzburg would have less of it. As reported, Kinberger therefore puts forward the idea of ÖGK buying the UKH and running it as its own facility. "Many political leaders from the city and province like the idea," says Kinberger happily.