Three Styria hospitals deliver primary care to 7,000 patients

Three hospitals in Styria have provided primary care to about 7,000 patients in a year under a model set up to address gaps in women’s and children’s health services, ORF reports.

The scheme began a year ago at hospitals in Deutschlandsberg, Rottenmann and Hartberg, where patients are treated in the same way as they would be at a practice with a public health insurance contract. The hospitals stepped in because the region lacked a contracted gynaecologist and paediatrician.

Ulf Drabek, chief financial officer of KAGes, which runs the hospitals, said the facilities had provided care close to patients’ homes, funded by the social insurance providers ÖGK, SVS and BVAEB. He noted that providing such services is not a core task of a hospital.

Alexander Moussa, spokesperson for Styria’s doctors in private practice, said the model was viewed sceptically, particularly in gynaecology. He said regional doctors were glad that care was available, especially for preventive check-ups, but argued that the hospital-based service could not provide the continuity of care offered by a trusted gynaecologist.

Moussa said outpatient gynaecology needed stronger support, including for preventive medicine, to make setting up a practice more attractive and ensure comprehensive care. At Hartberg Hospital, demand is high: women can wait up to a year for an initial consultation.