Wittenberge is fighting: Improve medical care!

Wittenberge is fighting: Improve medical care!

On November 20, Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) invited to the Brandenburg hospital summit. Before this important meeting, Catrin Steiniger, the chairwoman of the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians Berlin Brandenburg (KVBB), expressed the urgent need to strengthen outpatient care. "We need concrete measures and close cooperation with the politically responsible and the actors in the healthcare sector," she emphasized. The focus is on relocating services to outpatient care, which, however, must first be extensively expanded.

The situation in Wittenberge is alarming! The city took the initiative to stabilize medical care after the medical situation has intensified. Mayor Oliver Hermann said: "The KVV actually has the security order. But for our urban development, medical care is so important that we want to take care of." In order to counter this problem, a special body for medical care was set up in 2022, which is occupied by Antje Kranz. She organizes visits in medical practices and helps with the settlement of new doctors.

Pleasing developments in Wittenberge

The efforts of the city already have an effect! "The situation was significantly relaxed when the new family doctor Laura Duille started her work in summer," reports Hermann. In addition, a new family doctor will work in the health center from January 1, 2025. The conversion of the former eye clinic into a medical center also brings a breath of fresh air: an orthodontist will open her practice there, which is urgently needed.

But the challenges remain! While Wittenberge is well cared for with specialists such as eye and dermatologists, patients come from a distance of 250 kilometers because specialists are missing in the surrounding regions. "For example, we have three gynecologists, but two practices could not be filled in Perleberg," explains Kranz. A bottleneck is threatened, especially in the field of pediatrics, and the city is urgently looking for an ENT doctor. In order to secure the medical future, Wittenberge supports two medical students with a scholarship and a mentoring program so that they work in the city for at least five years after their training.