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In St. Gallen, the number of beds is more than limited due to two hospital closures. This causes problems on various levels.
June 2021: The hospital in Flawil SG closed after almost 130 years of existence. March 2022: Wattwil Hospital was also closed. In the recent past, the canton of St. Gallen closed two hospitals of regional importance. Only emergency centers remain on site.
Wil, Uznach, Walenstadt, Grabs and the city of St. Gallen remain primary sourcing locations. Due to the closure of Flawil and Wattwil, the GP practices in the Wil area are bursting at the seams. Many more patients come to the emergency room at Spital Wil.
New building ready for use in 2023.
Stefan Maydl is a family doctor in a group practice in Wil and the president of the Regional Medical Society Wil, Uzwil, Flawil. She says: “Since the hospitals closed, the number of patients has doubled emotionally.” While growth was expected, it was now surprised to see how much. The result: more work, longer work. “It has to work somehow,” says Maydl.
Legend: Spital Wattwil has no primary supplier since March. This creates bottlenecks elsewhere. key stone
At Wil Hospital, the number of patients needing a bed increased by 10 percent, says Barbara Anderegg, spokesman for the Fürstenland-Toggenburg hospital region: “The infrastructure in Wil was running to its limits. It was predictable that the number of patients would increase. ” That is why an additional building is under construction, to be occupied in August 2023. But since Flawil and Wattwil are already closed, there is a loophole. The offices were converted into hospital rooms, which resulted in the creation of 15 additional beds. But there are still not enough of them.
Tangible social problems related to transfers
The closure has far-reaching consequences for patients. Stefan Maydl explains: “The Flavil patients had to be transferred to Uznach. There are no relatives who cannot visit the patient due to a long journey. These are the tangible social problems that may arise. ” Since the required number of beds cannot be made available, more transfers than usual are needed, confirms Barbara Anderegg from the Fürstenland-Toggenburg hospital region.
There is no anger among family doctors, but resignation.
An additional building in Wil is to prevent this in the future. But: Objections have been received which should prolong the ugly situation with big transfers. Then eventually GPs would have to pay for it again, says Stefan Maydl: “The mood is depressed. There is no anger, no misunderstanding. It’s more of a resignation, because in the long run there is no sign of a satisfactory solution. “