In every fifth health department in Bavaria, the executive chair is vacant - sometimes for months, in the middle of the pandemic.
That was the result of a request from the Greens in the state parliament to the government.
The Erdinger Health Department is one of these authorities.
But it is not leaderless.
Erding - District Office Spokeswoman Daniela Fritzen confirms that the management position has been vacant for eight months after Dr. Kathrin Mariß-Heinrich moved to a better paid position in the - larger - neighboring district of Freising in the middle of the first Corona wave. According to Fritzen, the Ministry of Health advertised the position internally in June and August 2020, both times without success. A public tender followed in December - so far without any results.
Mariß-Heinrich was followed by Dr.
Sibylle Borgo.
According to District Administrator Martin Bayerstorfer, she was officially deputy head and temporarily led the office.
At the end of the year, Borgo left at his own request.
In her place - again on an interim basis - was Dayana Walther.
But there was a comeback.
Bayerstorfer announced that Medical Councilor Borgo had returned.
However, again not as a leader on her own initiative.
This means that the position remains vacant.
“Regardless of this, she is a great support for the team,” says Bayerstorfer.
Smaller districts in particular would find it difficult to fill health department heads in these times, and higher wages in more populous districts would be higher due to the higher grouping.
According to Fritzen, the management of the health department is currently the responsibility of the head of Department 5 Health and Veterinary Affairs, Consumer Protection. The spokeswoman admits "that such a long vacancy leaves traces" and diminishes performance. In the pandemic, however, support was received from doctors, the armed forces and other departments. Since Corona, the number of employees has increased from 20 to 66 - without those of other authorities. ham