MedUni Vienna warns cuts could reduce patient care

The Medical University of Vienna expects budget savings of about 10% by 2030 to affect staffing and patient care, rector Markus Müller told ORF’s Wien heute.

Universities’ budgets for 2028 to 2030 have been approved, and the university must now prepare for the cuts. Müller said staff costs make up 80% to 90% of its budget, meaning employees would be affected.

The cuts are expected to become noticeable from 2028, but planning is due to start next year. The university may initially leave vacancies unfilled when employees retire. It may also have to reduce the number of doctors, although the scale has yet to be decided.

Fewer doctors could mean less time for clinical work and, as a result, fewer patients treated. Müller said doctors at the university hospital cost about 350 million euros a year.

The situation is complicated by an agreement with the City of Vienna covering renovations, new equipment and staffing at the AKH university hospital through 2033. The AKH is both a municipal hospital and a university clinic. Müller said the university was bound by the agreement but might not have enough money to meet its terms.

Müller said the goal was to keep the effects on Vienna residents to a minimum, but he found it difficult to imagine that patients would notice no change. The AKH is responsible for about one-third of Vienna’s healthcare provision.

Science Minister Eva-Maria Holzleitner has said healthcare would not be cut. Müller said he believed that was her intention, but added that the impact of university budgets on the country’s four major university hospitals may not have been fully understood earlier. Staff have expressed concern, and the works council has submitted statements.