Hospitals report short-time working

The Cantonal Hospital in Baar and the Andreas Clinic in Cham are feeling the effects of the measures prescribed by the federal government to ensure sufficient capacity in the hospitals during the corona crisis.

"The utilisation rate at the Andreas Clinic is lower than in the previous year," says Marietta Werder, Head of Marketing and Communication at the Clinic, on request. Sonja Metzger from the Zug Cantonal Hospital also confirms that the occupancy of the beds is currently low.

This seems surprising at first, when there are fears that the coronavirus could overburden the health system with those affected by the virus. The low capacity-utilisation can be explained, however, by the federal council's decision in mid-March: any non-"urgently indicated medical interventions" and therapies must be postponed. Operations in particular have been cancelled for this reason. "As a clinic within the staff doctor system, the majority of us are focused on elective procedures," says Werder, explaining the decrease. Elective procedures are operations that are mainly carried out in specialist clinics, such as the Andreas Clinic. The effects were also felt only a few days after the decision, as all planned operations were examined for the "requirements of urgency" and, where necessary, were postponed to a later date.

A part of the hospital has been in short-time work from the beginning of April
The same is heard from the Zug Cantonal hospital. As Sonja Metzger states, the hospital was still normally busy until mid-March, but, after that, the consequences of the corona crisis became palpable. "The effects have been clear for about three weeks," says Metzger, adding: "The capacity utilisation is currently around half what is usual at this time of year." As in the case of the Andreas Clinic, this is due to postponed and cancelled operations.

It is not yet clear exactly how much loss the cantonal hospital will record as a result of the crisis.

This low capacity utilisation has consequences for various areas of the hospital: the work decreases and there is a corresponding loss of earnings. "The Zug Cantonal Hospital has therefore applied for short-time work," says Metzger. The Hirslanden Private Hospital Group has also applied for short-time work for various locations. "This includes the Andreas Clinic Cham," explains Marietta Werder. From the 1^st of April, a part of the clinic staff at the Cham site has been on short-time work, says Werder. As "Der Bund" recently reported, employees of the Hirslanden Group's locations affected by short-time working will not lose any pay. Hirslanden CEO Daniel Liedtke confirmed this to the newspaper. We don’t want to sack people, and we are relying on them, both during and after the crisis, he was quoted as saying.

Probably a six-figure loss per day
The Corona crisis will have a corresponding effect on the finances in the Zug hospitals. The Cantonal Hospital stresses that it is not yet possible to say exactly how much the losses due to the pandemic will actually be. "However, we expect a significant six-figure amount per day," says Sonja Metzger, quantifying the roughly estimated loss.

The number of emergency patients has fallen significantly.
Both hospitals in Zug also confirm, or request, that the emergency department is being consulted less frequently. "In particular, people with ailments that are basically not life-threatening and can also be treated by a family doctor are less likely to come into our emergency area," says Marietta Werder from the Andreas Clinic in Cham. The Zug Cantonal Hospital also recorded a "significant" decline in emergency patients. The main reason for this is probably that a large part of the population is following the recommendations of the federal government and, whenever possible, is staying at home, says Sonja Metzger. "We cannot rule out that patients may delay, or even avoid visiting our emergency centre for fear of becoming infected with the coronavirus," Metzger admits. In the event of a heart attack or stroke, however, this can have serious consequences. It is therefore important to visit the emergency centre or call the ambulance service in case of complaints such as chest pain, shortness of breath, paralysis or general weakness. This was also announced recently by the Swiss Society for Emergency and Rescue Medicine. Both Hospitals in Zug have sufficient capacity for emergencies, emphasize the media officials.

At the hospital level, Marietta Werder is unable to provide information on the financial implications. She refers to the Hirslanden group. The media commissioner Claude Kaufmann explains that no precise information can be given about the financial impact throughout the group. "They will depend on the duration of the disease wave and on how long hospitals are prohibited from carrying out elective operations." The Hirslanden Group, and thus the Andreas Clinic, entered this crisis in a very good financial situation, however. Business measures, such as optimising operating costs, were also taken. "We therefore assume that our financial situation will remain stable," he concludes.