District and district hospital develop a concept for the future
Whether digitalisation, corona, financing or demographic change: health care nationwide is facing a structural change that poses many challenges - especially for smaller clinics in rural areas. For this reason, the Waldeck-Frankenberg district and the Frankenberg district hospital want to rethink this issue - and in the coming months they will be working with an external partner to develop a future concept for the clinic in the southern district.
The aim is to consider the new demands on health care as a whole - and to renew and improve the structures accordingly. In future, the offers are to be bundled and realigned for the benefit of the patients.
"In doing so, we rely above all on a holistic approach that allows us to rethink health care," emphasises District Administrator Jürgen van der Horst, who is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Frankenberg District Hospital. Above all, he says, one wants to move strategic issues here that are sustainable and fit for the future. "Together with a planning office, we will therefore enter into a modern procedure - together with the stakeholders on site," adds the managing director of the district hospital Margarete Janson. "We want to closely involve all stakeholders here in order to think through and redevelop processes together in the teams." According to First District Councillor and Head of the Health Department Karl-Friedrich Frese, the district and the district hospital would like to make the hospital fit for the future together in this way. "The district hospital is an important anchor point for medical care in the southern district," says Frese. "We want to cleverly network the clinic and all other existing structures - and thus further strengthen medical care."
For the district hospital itself, structural changes could also occur in this context. After all, the hospital's building structures have grown along with the range of medical care it offers in recent years. Not all of the facilities meet the latest standards. Therefore, within the framework of the future concept, all constructional possibilities at the location are being explored.
Not only will the spatial structures of the clinic and the fabric of the buildings be analysed, but also the requirements for fire protection as well as sustainable and environmentally friendly energy concepts. Organisational and logistical processes will also be put to the test in order to continuously improve the processes. The potential of digitalisation will also be used in a targeted manner. In addition, the building is to be designed to be as completely barrier-free as possible.
The district and the district hospital will not shy away from making the necessary investments. However, it is also expected that the federal and state governments will contribute to the financing of inpatient care in rural areas. Jürgen van der Horst, Karl-Friedrich Frese and Margarete Janson emphasise: "We will pull together here as a team to make the hospital fit for the future and to bundle health care in the best possible way to align it with the needs of patients in Waldeck-Frankenberg."