The RKH clinics' proposals to expand the inpatient clinic with additional specialist disciplines to up to 40 inpatient beds were rejected by the State Ministry of Social Affairs. However, the continued operation of the small inpatient clinic with currently around 10 beds would result in an annual deficit of around 1.8 million euros. "Without the approval of the state and thus the possibility of expanding the inpatient clinic with additional doctors and specialist disciplines, such a small ward cannot be operated economically," says RKH Kliniken Managing Director Prof. Dr. Jörg Martin. For this reason, the RKH clinics proposed at today's meeting of the clinic supervisory board to discontinue the continuation of the inpatient clinic and to promote the establishment of further registered doctors and outpatient surgery at the Marbach site.
The attending surgeons already working in Marbach have a high proportion of outpatient operations, and there has already been a request from an ophthalmologist for outpatient surgery options. Inpatient surgery for the attending physicians in Marbach will be made possible at the Ludwigsburg and Bietigheim sites. The TheraVent therapy center, which operates in the current medical center, is planning to expand to include outpatient cardiac rehabilitation. "The establishment of an outpatient surgery center and the establishment of new, additional specialists requires the construction of the planned second medical center," says Olaf Sporys, who is involved in the project to further develop the Marbach campus at the RKH clinics. The Supervisory Board of the clinics approved the proposed resolution of the RKH clinics and gave the green light for further planning and the construction of a second medical center.
"Other important building blocks in the campus development are the establishment of a private psychosomatic clinic and the establishment of a nursing home offering short-term care," summarizes District Administrator Dietmar Allgaier. With regard to the private psychosomatic clinic, the clinic supervisory board commissioned the RKH clinics to examine the project in detail and present it to the board for a decision at its winter meeting in 2020. With regard to the nursing home, the Clinic Supervisory Board approved the concept of the Protestant Home Foundation. The concept also includes short-term care, which takes into account the high demand in the Ludwigsburg district and makes it easier for the RKH clinics to discharge patients who do not require further hospital treatment.
"The path we have taken is now heading in the right direction. The town of Marbach will support the construction decision for the second medical center planned for the Supervisory Board meeting on 30.06.2020 to the extent that the concept of the Evangelische Heimstiftung is to be given the 'green light' in the municipal council meeting to be held beforehand. It is now important that the hospital management quickly works out and implements the contractual agreement with the interested parties for the second medical center," says Mayor Jan Trost. "As part of the urban development contract, the town of Marbach and the RKH clinics can work together and develop a coherent overall concept for the expansion of the Marbach site," concludes Prof. Martin. A draft contract is to be presented to the Supervisory Board in June 2020. A draft contract with the Protestant Home Foundation should then also be drawn up at the same meeting.
District Administrator Allgaier and Mayor Trost are delighted "that the future Marbach healthcare campus is taking shape after difficult discussions with this decision by the Supervisory Board, as it can now be developed well and sensibly".
