Zug,18.04.2018

Doctor blames politics for his failure to find successor

Dr Reto Godly, a specialist in pulmonary diseases as well as a general practitioner, has announced he is to retire shortly after having practised in the city for 34 years. Unfortunately, he has not been able to find anyone to take over from him, something he blames on political decisions.

It is from his offices at number 32 Bahnhofstrasse that the 68-year-old doctor has, for the past 14 years, been able to enjoy beautiful panoramic views of the lake and mountains, having previously run a joint practice with his doctor wife on Seestrasse for 20 years.

The medical practitioner readily admitted that giving up full-time work after so long was not going to be easy, though he had realised that, sooner or later, he would have to. He had hoped to find a successor to take over his surgery, but this has not been the case. “I had a number of doctors interested, but when the last one withdrew his application, I decided to call it a day anyway,” he said.

The doctor puts the blame on failing to find an appropriate successor firmly on politics, not least the tougher cantonal restrictions on new doctors hoping to practise here, and state regulations introduced on 1 January this year, which meant his turnover was decreased, but not his outgoings. “It seems the future of ambulatory practice lies firmly with part-time doctors,” he said, adding how he felt investors had a role to play in this, too. “It makes me sad to see how ambulatory work is getting increasingly impersonal, with fewer general practitioners around these days.”

While Dr Godly’s son, Konstantin, is also training to be a doctor, he is specialising in a different area and did not want to take over his father’s practice.

Reto Godly felt that opening a practice in the city all those years ago was the right one, just as his decision to study medicine at all was. He compared his many patients to books in a library, with his having the opportunity to read and share various chapters of their lives. “As a doctor, I have ask all sorts of questions, even intimate ones, of course. You need in order to be able to make a proper diagnosis,” he said, concluding that he felt he was not a wise man but he had had a lot of life experience. Not being one for computers, Dr Godly kept extensive hand-written notes and diagrams notes on his patients, which he felt was an indication of the importance he held them in.

As to his plans for the future, he is intending to travel Alaska with his family. Thereafter, he said he might even start to study a totally different subject, after all, his wife has done so, and he wants to ensure he keeps up with her.