27 cash points for specialists and general practitioners are currently advertised at the Tyrolean Medical Association. As reported, some positions have been vacant for years. Like the one for a pediatrician in St. Johann. A cooperation with the St. Johann Hospital is now intended to prevent gaps in supply. The Austrian Health Insurance Fund (ÖGK) is also relying on new models of cooperation.
Desperately looking for a health insurance doctor! This is currently the case in several municipalities in Tyrol. As reported, not only has a pediatrician been missing in St. Johann for years, but also a psychiatrist since April. This means that there is currently not a single statutory health insurance physician for this specialty to be found in the entire district. A dermatologist in Reutte and a gynecologist in Wörgl have also been wanted for some time.
Too few specialists in some disciplines
Arno Melitopulos-Daum, ÖGK regional office manager in Tyrol, admits that there are fields in which filling a new position “is not easy”. This is mainly due to the fact that “there are fundamentally fewer specialists in some disciplines”. This often has nothing to do with the conditions of the health insurance, as the President of the Medical Association of Tyrol Artur Wechselberger had criticized.
New collaborations possible
For years the topic of shortage of doctors has preoccupied politics and social security. Melitopulos-Daum refers to many new models to quickly close supply gaps. In the specific case of St. Johann, a cooperation with the hospital is being negotiated. A variant that has already been tried out in Reutte. For the psychiatry department, a daily “guest performance” by a doctor is being considered as a temporary solution. In the case of the primary care centers still missing in Tyrol, Melitopulos-Daum promises news “very soon”.