The inpatient services of the AUVA Trauma Center Vienna-Brigittenau, formerly the Lorenz Böhler Accident Hospital, the Meidling Trauma Center and the Vienna General Hospital, are to be offered by the end of this year.
After the announcement of the temporary closure of the AUVA trauma center Vienna-Brigittenau, former UKH Lorenz Böhler, the removal will apparently start on Monday. According to Heinz Brenner, a representative of the Vienna Special Committee of the Austrian Society for Trauma Surgery, the operating area will be removed and, according to the plan, a “gradual reduction” in operations will begin. There are actually 17 surgeries scheduled for Monday.
Brenner, the trauma surgeon, could not say whether all surgeries would go ahead as planned on Monday. “We don't know,” the doctor told the Austria Press Agency. Both of them were planned and serious patients who had been injured in the previous days. Patients also complained to the city councilor's office of Health Peter Hacker (SPÖ), whose activities were canceled at short notice without change. The evacuation of the intensive care unit and the lecture hall and lecture hall should begin on Monday, according to a plan emailed to hospital superiors, which was made available to the Austrian Press Agency. When asked, Hacker's office said that the full resettlement from Monday was not in line with the agreement and was not scheduled until the end of the month.
Meidling Trauma Center and Vienna General Hospital until the end of the year
Inpatient services at the AUVA Trauma Center will be offered at the Meidling Trauma Center and the Vienna General Hospital until the end of the year. Employees are not informed when and from where they will start their work. “I have my services for March, that's all I know,” Brenner said. Our colleagues will learn more tomorrow at an information event where resettlement is already underway.
On Sunday, the AUVA spoke again in a broadcast and dismissed the criticism – for example from the Vienna Medical Association and City Councilor for Health Peter Hacker (SPÖ). “Medical care is guaranteed as agreed in advance with all concerned,” it said. At its meeting on February 28, 2024, the AUVA Board of Directors unanimously approved a temporary relocation to the Vienna Trauma Center – Brigittenau location and general hospital by the end of 2024. From the beginning of 2025 services in the form of an interim solution were decided in an interim building in Brigittana.
General renovation is necessary
As part of the general refurbishment of the trauma centre, a baseline discussion on building regulations and fire safety was held with the responsible authority in June 2023. AUVA emphasized that the need for a survey on the fire resistance of the existing steel frame structure was identified. “Since becoming aware of the facts described, immediate measures have been initiated, such as reducing bed-stays and providing additional extinguishing agents. Although these measures are effective, they are ultimately only temporary, which is why orderly transfer of services is the next, necessary step.
For Brenner, a surgeon, transferring a hospital to another hospital is “completely illusory” for legal and liability reasons. Additionally, other hospitals will work with different equipment. “I don't know the tools and I don't know the implant, I have to put a hip prosthesis in there,” Brenner said. “That's negligence,” said the surgeon. “You're putting patients at risk.”
As a result, the authorities issued a request, which was reiterated to the AUVA, to immediately rectify, among other things, the defects in the coating of the steel frame structure. According to the hospital operator, this cannot be achieved during current operations. “If the imposed fire safety measures are not implemented or verified, the authority has decided to close the business as soon as possible and appropriate planning should be done by AUVA,” the broadcast said.
Also: “Appropriate compensatory measures have been taken by AUVA. This applies not only to patient care but also to colleagues in practice. Statements that contain statements to the contrary are neither factual nor accurate. The result would indicate the effectiveness of care.” AUVA could not be reached for the APA report on Sunday. (APA)
