Letter to Marterbauer

AKH Issues Warning Over University Budget: “Departments Will Be Shut Down”

Nachrichten
16.10.2026 09:26

The dispute over planned budget cuts at Austria’s public universities continues. Now the country’s largest hospital, Vienna General Hospital (AKH), has also issued a dramatic appeal to policymakers.

Positions in the budget dispute remain entrenched. Negotiations are currently underway regarding the university budget for the years 2028 through 2030. However, the AKH warns that this decision will also have implications for healthcare.

According to the works council, this would mean a budget reduction of about 14 percent for MedUni Vienna. At the university, where nearly all funding (about 90 percent) goes toward personnel, this means that approximately 200 medical positions at the AKH, as well as another 500 positions in preclinical departments and administration, would no longer be financially viable—with devastating consequences, according to the works council.

The Vienna General Hospital (AKH) is the largest hospital in Austria and one of the largest in ...
The Vienna General Hospital (AKH) is the largest hospital in Austria and one of the largest in Europe.(Bild: Krone-Collage/APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER, Screenshot)

Threat of Department Closures
According to the employee representatives, the quality of care at the AKH could deteriorate significantly. If there is a shortage of staff, operating rooms, outpatient clinics, and beds—and possibly entire departments—would have to be closed. This is particularly dangerous for critically ill patients, such as cancer patients. Even 24-hour operations are at risk: without sufficient funding, the basis for night, weekend, and holiday shifts could be lost.

On Friday morning, an open letter was sent to Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer, Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner, as well as Vienna’s Mayor Michael Ludwig and City Councilor for Health Peter Hacker (all SPÖ). The federal government will meet tomorrow at the Federal Chancellery in Vienna for what is officially described as a “working meeting.” The issue of university budgets is also on the agenda.

This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.

Loading...
00:00 / 00:00
Abspielen
Schließen
Aufklappen
kein Artikelbild
Loading...
Vorige 10 Sekunden
Zum Vorigen Wechseln
Abspielen
Zum Nächsten Wechseln
Nächste 10 Sekunden
00:00
00:00
1.0x Geschwindigkeit
Loading
Kommentare Banner - Die Stimme Österreichs

Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.

Hinweis in eigener Sache: Das krone.at-Forum präsentiert sich ab sofort in neuem Design! Wir freuen uns über konstruktives Feedback. Damit die Diskussionen in den Kommentarbereichen beim jeweiligen Thema bleiben, können Sie uns Rückmeldungen hier hinterlassen.

Kostenlose Spiele
Vorteilswelt

Magazine der Kronen Zeitung