Healthcare holding company

Haberlander: “We don’t need a commissioner”

Health Minister Christine Haberlander (ÖVP)(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

The dismissal of a doctor in Kirchdorf triggers a political debate: A special commissioner should investigate the hospital holding company, says the SPÖ. But ÖVP health officer Christine Haberlander doesn't think much of it.

After 15 minutes, it was all over again: on the first day of the labor court proceedings against the state of Upper Austria and the Upper Austrian health holding company in Steyr, Judge Martina Marschall-Krahofer decided to adjourn the trial: as is well known, the public prosecutor's office is currently investigating the case of the two dead patients at Kirchdorf Hospital and is waiting for expert opinions. Once these expert reports are available, a decision will be made as to whether the senior physician will be charged or not.

The civil proceedings brought by the accused anaesthetist will then continue: he is taking legal action against his dismissal without notice, which was pronounced by the personnel director of OÖG. The latter was present at the court in Steyr with legal representatives on Thursday, the senior physician refrained from appearing in public.

I have been collecting publicly accessible data on the hospital landscape in Upper Austria since the 2000s. In 2006, for example, the Court of Audit drew attention to shortcomings at Steyr State Hospital. But nothing really happened. In 2013, the IT infrastructure was the subject of an audit, the effects of which are still being felt today.

SPÖ-Gesundheitssprecher Peter Binder

In the meantime, the proposal of the Supervisory Board and the 3rd President of the Provincial Parliament, Peter Binder, who would like to see an independent person at the head of the holding company's supervisory body, is being discussed in provincial politics. Binder says he has received a lot of support for his idea of sending a "cleaner" to the Supervisory Board.

"It would be necessary," specifies the SPÖ politician: "I have been collecting publicly accessible data on the hospital landscape in Upper Austria since the 2000s. In 2006, for example, the Court of Audit drew attention to shortcomings at the state hospital in Steyr. But nothing really happened. In 2013, the IT infrastructure was the subject of an audit, and the effects are still being felt today."

"Now is the time to look to the future"
Binder accuses OÖG Supervisory Board Chairman Franz Mittendorfer, who sits on an ÖVP ticket, of having "lost focus": "Healthcare is one of the most important issues for the population. There is great satisfaction with the hospitals, but processes in the administration need to be questioned." Christine Haberlander (ÖVP), Deputy Governor for Health, does not think much of Binder's idea: "There is no need for a special commissioner. Now is the time to look to the future. Our common goal and our top priority is the health of the people in our country."