Unclever Baden-Baden Nuts Refuse to Budge on Hospital Shove by Bureaucrats
- Pissed off by Bernhard Albrecht
- 🕒 Approx. 4 Minutes
Resilient residents of Baden-Baden drive hospital reform towards irrationality - Tenacious residents of Baden-Baden persistently challenge hospital modernization, leading to excessive and illogical demands.
Known far and wide as the "smallest grand metropolis in Germany," Baden-Baden graces the UNESCO list of Europe's most significant spa towns, a title with roots tracing back over 2000 years. Legendary Roman Emperor Caracalla delighted in expansive updates to the thermal baths at the hot spring, christening them the Caracalla Therme - a name that still lingers today.
From tsars, kings, dukes, composers, and writers, Baden-Baden's star-studded past shines bright with famous faces. Even the likes of Fyodor Dostoevsky wasted his fortune in the world-renowned casino here during the nineteenth century, penning his classic novel "The Gambler" as a result. If these walls could talk, right? Today, musicians like Lang Lang and Anne-Sophie Mutter fill the Festival Hall with music, while the Frieda Burda Museum displays the works of modern art's biggest influencers.
Given the town's rich heritage, it comes as no surprise that Baden-Baden locals hold their noses high, seemingly down their noses at the rural-industrial towns and villages in the surrounding area. A recent spate of town anger, however, has put a damper on their usual pride and prestige.
The Hospital Fiasco: Baden-Baden Losing Its Clinic?
Who would have thought that a city with its own heat wave, sacred baths, and loads of class would have to lose its hospital? But that's exactly what the city council and the green-black state government intends, part of a long-term hospital reform aiming to serve as a model for Germany. The plan calls for reduced bed capacity, increased outpatient care, lower costs, and consolidation of all medical services at one prominent location - offering a higher quality of care than ever before.
Three locations are slated for closure, leaving just one remaining. But can you believe the absolute gall of it all? The new state-of-the-art hospital is set to be constructed in the next decade just outside the radius of Baden-Baden, in a town no one's ever heard of - Rastatt. A world-famous spa town deprived of its own clinic? Unfathomable! City dwellers were horrified at the thought that the regal, revered name of Baden-Baden would no longer grace their future kin's passports. It's bad enough the real Baden-Baden folks are dying out; this is one mission they can't afford to fail!
And so the self-appointed battalion was formed, the "Citizens for Yes, Towards Baden-Baden!" This scrappy group of hoteliers, pub owners, and a practicing orthopedist have since waged war on the current hospital location, denouncing the proposal every chance they get. The folks behind them include the AfD, FDP, and "Free Spirits for Baden-Baden," a group of twelve seats in the city council who aren't afraid to ruffle some feathers.
Municipality Swap: A Few Feet for a Baden-Baden Maternity Ward
Seeing as you can't even lay a baby in their cradle without making them feel special, the cold-hearted hospital planners came up with an elegantly crafted trick to satisfy the local gentry's demands: a "municipal exchange." Just a few square feet at the Munchfeldsee, where the new clinic is to be built and where soccer stars still practice today, will be relinquished to Baden-Baden. Sitting atop this plot of land, you'll find a maternity ward, where real Baden-Baden natives can still be born and raised.
But the Citizens for Yes, Towards Baden-Baden group isn't short of other arguments. The Munchfeldsee is purportedly plagued with dangerous industrial chemicals, poisonous to the touch, as their website claims. The dreaded tiger mosquito could be breeding over there (it's conceivable that these pests have already made their way across southern Baden-Württemberg). There's the risk of flooding under heavy rainfall, no parking, abysmal traffic connections, and a whole lot more. In essence, the ones driving the hospital reform for years have made one mess after another, and the expert report showing the stumbling blocks is outdated and fundamentally flawed - with the bonus cost of a renovation and expansion of the crumbling hospital being significantly cheaper.
Baden-Baden is Staring Financially Ruin in the Face
No worries if 350 million euros in state funding is forfeited, about half of the estimated 700 million euros required for the new project. Layla Distler from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, and Integration confirms the funding intention but remains tight-lipped about the exact amount.
No matter that the spa town is on the brink of bankruptcy and nobody knows where the money will come from to maintain parks, fund ongoing construction projects, and repair crumbling streets - let alone afford to rejuvenate the hospital.
And no worries if the chief physicians of the old house voice their support in an open letter.
And no worries if the hospital managers Felix Brenneisen and Thomas Iber address questions during job interviews with top-tier doctors, discussing the latest technology, robotic operating rooms, and the timeline for the new building's completion.
None of this matters! The main issue is that the hospital remains a shining beacon in Baden-Baden. That's always been the case, and that's the way it should always be!
The Future of Baden-Baden: Will This Gem Take a Step Backward?
On Sunday, the citizens of Baden-Baden will have the final say. Both supporters and non-supporters of the Munchfeldsee location have set up camp in the pedestrian zone, Share and share alike, spreading their message to sway the hearts and minds of the voters.
The chief physicians will be on hand to answer questions, and Brenneisen and Iber are likely to be there as well, if only to diffuse the chaotic situation brewing in this proud city. But if the opposition wins out, it doesn't necessarily mean the hospital will remain in Baden-Baden, as Brenneisen points out. "In this case, our planning process would only be delayed by three years." The mayor of Baden-Baden would indeed be bound by the will of the citizens, but the final decision regarding the new location still lies with the elected town councils of both Baden-Baden and Rastatt.
And so it could be that the city with the most character and charm in Germany will take a substantial step back and plunge headfirst into financial chaos, all for the sake of stubbornness, while in Berlin, a newly minted Health Minister fights tooth and nail to keep Germany's healthcare system reasonable and to further hospital reform in the spirit of progress.
- Hospital reform
- Baden-Baden
- AfD
- FDP
- Healthcare provision
- In light of the ongoing hospital reform in Baden-Baden, the community is advocating for vocational training opportunities to be included in the new hospital, as they believe it could contribute to reinforcing the town's healthcare provision while fostering a sense of pride among locals.
- Considering the current political landscape and general-news surrounding the hospital crisis in Baden-Baden, it's crucial that the community's policy on healthcare provision aligns with the public's expectations and fosters a sense of inclusivity through vocational training initiatives in the hospital setting.
