At Graz University Hospital

New “mixed outpatient clinic” to relieve hospitals

The new outpatient clinic will be established at the AUVA's Graz University Hospital for initial clarification.(Bild: Sepp Pail)

AUVA and Kages are attracting attention with an innovative concept: A new primary care outpatient clinic is to be set up at Graz Accident Hospital by the end of the year to relieve the burden on hospitals. This is the first time in Austria that a cross-carrier approach has been adopted.

AUVA and Kages are entering into a symbiosis that is unprecedented nationwide: A new primary care outpatient clinic (EVA) is to be opened at Graz University Hospital by the end of the year to relieve the overcrowded emergency outpatient clinics. "Specialist staff will carry out an initial assessment of patients there - similar to the portal outpatient clinic at the children's hospital," explains Gerhard Postl, Head of the Emergency Department at Graz II-West Regional Hospital, in an interview with "Krone".

Among other things, there will also be laboratory equipment to clarify the most important parameters: "Only when we see abnormal values will the patient be referred to hospital," explains the doctor, who is "enthusiastic" about the new concept. The AUVA will manage the new outpatient clinic for three years, after which time it will be reviewed.

Due to its success and the great need for it, the portal outpatient clinic at the Graz Children's Hospital will be reactivated on November 1: "Seven to eight paediatricians will relieve the hospital by the end of March," says Karlheinz Kornhäusl, Regional Health Councillor. The outpatient clinic will be open on Fridays from 4pm to at least 8pm, and at weekends and on public holidays from 12pm to 7pm. Only serious cases are referred to the pediatric clinic.