The announced closure of the maternity ward at Alexianer St. An online petition to save the department had garnered nearly 7,000 supporters by the afternoon. The petition stated that instead of closure, solutions are needed, and countless midwives and doctors face unemployment.
The background is the hospital reform, which forces both major Potsdam clinics to reduce services. The Ernst von Bergmann Hospital will stop offering orthopedics and vascular surgery from August. Alexianer St. Josefs Hospital will withdraw from neurology, gynecology, and obstetrics as of August 1. Births are to be concentrated at the Ernst von Bergmann Hospital in the future.
Regional Managing Director Alexander Mommert explained that the new legal requirements necessitate a greater concentration of medical services to meet quality standards in the long term. Around 50 employees are affected. For doctors and midwives, who make up about two-thirds of those affected, there is currently no prospect of continued employment. For nursing and functional staff, job opportunities at partner hospitals are being explored.
Source: www.tagesspiegel.de
