Death in the emergency room

Patient turned away: Grief and bewilderment

The woman stab at Rohrbach Hospital in the Mühlviertel region of Upper Austria.(Bild: Spitzbart Wolfgang)

Anger and indignation are huge: after the "Krone" newspaper revealed that there was no room in a specialist clinic for a dying woman from Upper Austria (55), it is clear that the healthcare system is at its absolute limit. Politicians are overflowing with expressions of sympathy and demands, and the "Krone" provides an update here. 

The background to the case revealed by the "Krone" is well known: A woman from the district of Rohrbach in Upper Austria (55) suddenly developed severe chest pains on the evening of October 14. She sought help herself in the emergency room of the hospital in the district capital, but hours later she was dead. 

The hospital operator, Oberösterreichische Gesundheitsholding, confirmed the "Krone" investigation: the mother of a daughter and a son was diagnosed with a so-called Stanford A dissection at 9.10 pm. This is a highly acute, life-threatening condition.

Had to watch the woman die
The doctors treating the woman wanted to have her taken to a specialist hospital by helicopter immediately, but due to the high workload, there were refusals from everywhere: from Kepler University Hospital, the most important hospital in Upper Austria, as well as from Salzburg, Passau, Wels and St. Pölten. "There was nothing we could do and we had to watch the woman die," says a hospital employee.

The ÖAMTC Christophorus fleet can also transport patients at night.(Bild: Imre Antal)

A helicopter flight was no longer possible at this time, they say. In fact, the ÖAMTC Christophorus fleet has several aircraft and bases to fly seriously injured patients from one hospital to another, even at night. There is no need to use a helicopter stationed in the province itself.

It is completely incomprehensible to me that rapid assistance was not possible either within the province or across provincial borders.

LH-Vize Christine Haberlander, ÖVP

Upper Austria's Health Minister and Deputy Governor Christine Haberlander (ÖVP) has been informed about the incident since Friday and finally spoke out on Sunday afternoon. In a statement obtained by "Krone", she said: "The death of this woman is a human tragedy and my sympathies go out to the family and relatives. It is completely incomprehensible to me that rapid assistance was not possible either within the province or across provincial borders."

Responsible state councillor orders review
He continued: "I have instructed Dr. Harnoncourt (the board of the health holding company, note) and the health holding company to clarify what happened. It is important to me that a comprehensive analysis of the processes is carried out. All organizations involved have a responsibility to learn from this case and review how improvements in patient care can be achieved."

If we don't act quickly, we are heading for total system failure.

SPÖ-Gesundheitssprecher Peter Binder

Bild: MecGreenie Production OG

Peter Binder, Third President of the Upper Austrian Parliament and SPÖ health spokesperson, reacted "shocked" on Sunday. It is "hard to believe that something like this is even possible in our hospital landscape". Complete clarification was "the top priority of the hour". There is growing evidence "that we are heading for total system failure if we don't act quickly!", said Binder.

The liberal health councillor in Linz, Michael Raml (FPÖ), believes that the incident shows that the Upper Austrian hospital system has reached its limits - in terms of organization, personnel and structure: "This tragedy must be a wake-up call. We need to relieve the burden on hospitals, pool expertise and finally make use of digitalization."