Relatives could not visit their loved ones: the hospital finally solves Weilheim's test problems

Created: 05/18/2022, 16:00

By: Sebastian Tauchnitz

Ready for the Sunday service: The employees of the test center at Trifthof are now also on duty on Sundays after there was no corresponding offer in the district town for weeks.

© Photo: Hospital GmbH

In Weilheim, there is not a single quick test station that is still open at the weekend and gives appointments at short notice.

A difficult situation for the relatives of people in the hospital or senior citizens' facilities.

District

– The husband of a reader of the local newspaper is currently in the Weilheim hospital.

Fortunately, the ban on visitors to the hospital was lifted some time ago - one visitor per day is allowed, the reader says.

The only requirement: a current negative rapid test.

In a district town with 23,000 inhabitants, that shouldn't be a problem, one might think.

But there is a problem.

Even a big one.

Although the Olympia pharmacy does not appear in the district's official rapid test overview, you can still be tested there at short notice, at least on weekdays.

Otherwise, the only thing left is the district's test center, which is open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

However, you have to make an appointment online beforehand.

And the Trifthof is really far off the beaten path.

A real problem for our reader, who no longer drives a car herself.

Senior woman cycles to Oderding - for a quick test

She had to cycle to Oderding, where the Karwendel pharmacy still operates a quick test station, to get a current test.

Until a few weeks ago, the reader continues, there was still a test station on Marienplatz: “It was ideal.

You could walk there, the hospital, community center and Curata senior citizens' residence were in the immediate vicinity," she says.

But the station was closed.

And those who suffer are primarily the elderly without their own car who want to visit friends or relatives in nursing homes or hospitals.

The district is well aware of the situation, but unfortunately cannot do anything about it, according to the press office.

"In the end, it's up to the operators to decide whether they can cover their costs or not," says Erika Breu from the press office.

Last year, when Weilheim was almost full of test stations, demand was high and there was significantly more money per test from the state.

Rapid tests no longer lucrative enough for operators?

Currently, 11.50 euros are reimbursed for antigen rapid tests.

The operator not only has to buy the test, but also bear the rent, wages and transport costs.

"In view of the fact that only very few can be tested, it is no longer worthwhile for most," Breu suspects.

Against this argument speaks the fact that elsewhere the offer is significantly larger than in Weilheim.

In Schongau alone there are four quick test stations, all of which are also open at weekends, and according to the district office four in Penzberg, three of which are also available on Saturdays and Sundays.

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Hospital GmbH steps in and fills the gap on Sunday

No one could be reached at the city of Weilheim for comment on Monday.

Only Hospital Weilheim-Schongau GmbH remains.

So far, it has not offered any quick tests for visitors.

"It's a difficult situation," says managing director Thomas Lippmann in an interview with the local newspaper.

In social terms, the corona regulations would be dissolved more and more, but at the same time there would still be a strict obligation to test in the health sector.

However, the hospital GmbH left no stone unturned to enable the relatives of its patients to visit at the weekend.

Within a few hours, Nursing Director Anne Ertel organized that at least the test center at Trifthof would now be offering free quick tests on Saturdays and Sundays.

Testing takes place on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., and on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. - no registration is then necessary for this.

Nursing manager Sandra Buchner, who, together with Ertel, found the necessary staff in no time at all, emphasized that not only visitors to the hospital, but everyone who needs it, can be tested.

It starts this Sunday.

By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Weilheim-Penzberg newsletter.