Groundbreaking ceremony for the health centre in Frankenau

In Frankenau, the second health centre of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district is being built with the support of the state government. After Battenberg, Frankenau will also receive a cross-sectoral contact point for the health care of the population. "Once again, the district and the state are working hand in hand to meet the challenges of health care, especially in rural areas - the two local cross-sectoral health centres are impressive proof of this. They are attractive contact points for citizens in all questions of health care. Because that's what it's all about: maintaining our high-quality health care even in the face of increasingly difficult conditions," said Health Minister Kai Klose at the groundbreaking ceremony on Friday.

Together with Priska Hinz, the minister responsible for rural areas, and with Karl-Friedrich Frese, the first councillor of the Waldeck-Frankenberg district, he visited the future site of the centre, which is located in the middle of Frankenau opposite the town hall, to mark the start of construction. "Our support for rural development reaches the local people. With the Frankenau Health Centre, we are not only supporting the largest construction project in the town in the last ten years with over 1.3 million euros from the village development programme. Above all, we are also strengthening good, comprehensive and long-term medical care for the people in Frankenau and the surrounding area," said Minister Hinz. The village development programme is one of the strongest funding instruments that directly benefits Hessian communities. It promotes what makes rural areas and the lives of local people more attractive.

"The goal is to permanently ensure health care in Waldeck-Frankenberg," said First District Commissioner Frese, who is also the district's head of health. "In the new health centre in Frankenau, we will combine many providers and medical service providers in one building in future. This not only creates synergies between the actors located there. Above all, it helps the patients, who will find many health services at a common location." The planned health centre will include a general practitioner's office, a nursing centre, a pharmacy, a physiotherapy practice and a dentist's office.

The Hessian Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration (HMSI) is funding the establishment and commissioning of the local and cross-sectoral health centres in Battenberg and Frankenau with a total of around 350,000 euros. For the promotion of health care, especially in rural areas, the state will provide more than 5.4 million euros from the HMSI budget alone in 2023. In addition, there are the general funds from the promotion of rural areas, which are provided through village or regional development. Here, measures for the provision of public services and basic health care also have a firm place. Around 50 million euros are available annually in both programmes.

"By clinging to the status quo of existing structures, we will not succeed in maintaining our high-quality health care - transformation is needed so that we can maintain our quality. Here, different experts work together under one roof and can use the resulting synergies to pursue holistic treatment approaches with short distances for patients," said Klose. This interdisciplinary and holistic approach in a cross-sectoral centre offers attractive and modern working conditions, which is particularly important in times of an increasing shortage of skilled workers - and makes a significant contribution to long-term care, especially for older and chronically ill people, continued the Health Minister, who thanked all those involved for their work and commitment.

Keywords:

Health Creates the Future Specialist Service Health Specialist Service Village and Regional Development