Stainach region keeps hope alive for central hospital
Saturday 29th August 2026 on 18:30 in
Austria
The region around Stainach continues to hope that a central hospital for Liezen district can still be built, despite the project being cancelled last year, ORF reported on Saturday. Disappointment with the current cross-border hospital cooperation has grown locally, although the agreement with Upper Austria has been in effect since April 1.
Under the agreement, patients from Liezen district are guaranteed treatment at the Salzkammergut Klinikum hospital in Bad Ischl. The State of Styria pays 550,000 euros a year for patients from the Ausseerland region to receive care there. Most patients from Bad Aussee are currently treated in the hospital’s trauma surgery department.
In Stainach-Pürgg, the municipality where the central hospital was originally planned, the site is now covered by grass. Mayor Bernhard Schachner of the Austrian People’s Party said dissatisfaction with the current situation was increasing.
“The feedback is already very negative,” Schachner said. He said residents were gradually realising that the three hospitals originally promised would no longer be maintained in that form, and that a new, modern hospital would probably have been the better alternative.
Schachner said the growing awareness was linked to cases involving additional patient transfers and refusals of treatment.
He has not completely abandoned hope for a modern hospital in a central location because the property remains available. The land is still owned by KAGes and has a special designation exclusively for hospital use. If the hospital is not built, the land would revert to open countryside and suffer a substantial loss in value, he said.
“Of course, I hope it will be retained with foresight so that the option can at least be kept open,” Schachner said.
Officials in Bad Ischl gave a more positive assessment. Christian Dopler, medical director of the Salzkammergut Klinikum, said the cooperation was satisfactory, patient numbers were in line with expectations and the project had not increased waiting times.