Peter Ostenrieder's dual role as publisher and hospital supervisory board member is criticized. © ARCHIVE
Peter Ostenrieder is a member of the supervisory board and publisher of two regional magazines in which the hospitals regularly place advertisements. A conflict of interest?
Peiting – Since concerns about a possible closure of the Schongau hospital have been great, the supervisory board of the hospital GmbH has also been the focus of public interest. After all, it is the task of the board to control the management of the company. This makes it all the more important for members to be able to carry out their activities independently. In the case of Peitingen's mayor and CSU district councillor Peter Ostenrieder, a reader now expresses doubts to the editors as to whether this independence is actually given to the required extent. The reason for this is Ostenrieder's role as publisher of the two regional magazines "der altlandkreis" and "tassilo".
In both editions, advertisements of the hospital GmbH can be found regularly, the reader writes to the editors. And makes the following calculation. A full-page advertisement in the "tassilo" costs 2990 euros, a full-page advertisement in the "altlandkreis" 1970 euros. "Since the advertisements of the Krankenhaus GmbH are two-sided and appear simultaneously in both sheets, this results in 9920 euros for each issue in which advertisements of the Krankenhaus GmbH appear."
In fact, research by the editorial team confirms that last year alone, four out of six issues published PR texts in which the hospital GmbH provided information about robot technology or addressed the referendum, among other things. If you extrapolate the sums mentioned, you come to well over 30,000 euros, which cost the ad bookings according to the list price. Of course, this does not only raise questions for the whistleblower. Is a member of the supervisory board allowed to profit commercially from advertisements from the company he or she is supposed to supervise? Or is there a conflict of interest here that calls into question Ostenrieder's mandate? Does the amalgamation perhaps also explain why the mayor of Peitingen hardly says anything publicly on the subject of hospitals that contradicts the line of the district office?
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Schongau newsletter.)
Peiting's mayor comments on allegations: "No conflict of interest, rather affirmation of interest"
Ostenrieder firmly rejects the allegations. Contrary to what is assumed, he does not benefit financially from the ad placements, he emphasizes. These are discounted so much that not even the printing and distribution costs are covered. "In this respect, I don't see any conflict of interest, but rather a confirmation of interest for our GmbH." Also, he usually only gets to see the editorial content of the publications during the final correction. As is well known, he has only been active in the background in the active agency business since his election as mayor. "A coordination of content, texts or the like does not take place with me, but with our managing editor." The fact that he generally does not contradict the line of the district office, Ostenrieder does not want to leave either. "If I see a reason for it, I will." Many have a problem with the fact that "I am so firm in my opinion". However, this does not change "the fact that I am committed to my conscience and the well-being of the GmbH and not to the loudest voice or the worst letter to the editor".
Back to the advertising business: When asked, Ostenrieder confirms that his agency's PR cooperation with Krankenhaus GmbH has been running since 2015. The district council as well as the supervisory board are aware of this. "A blessing by resolution did not take place due to a lack of necessity, as it is not a transaction requiring approval." The fact that he, as a member of the supervisory board, who is also a publisher, also gives the GmbH a certain advantage, "corresponds more to my mandate to be committed only to the GmbH than to contradict it."
This is what the District Office and Krankenhaus GmbH say
The district office confirms Ostenrieder's account. The business relationship is known, "there is no obligation to obtain approval under company law." There is also no conflict of interest in view of the flowing money with which Ostenrieder's agency achieves, if not a profit, then at least a turnover. This would only be the case "if a supervisory board is associated with an undertaking that is in commercial competition with the undertaking to be supervised or would also be a member of the supervisory board of a competing undertaking. This is not the case here." In principle, the Krankenhaus GmbH advertises in many local media. The decision on this is made by the management together with the communications department.
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The Krankenhaus GmbH itself is even more concise. The question of a conflict of interest is not even addressed, but only stated: "The relevant general legal regulations apply, to which the Krankenhaus GmbH is bound." There are no separate compliance guidelines.
You can find even more up-to-date news from the region around Schongau on Merkur.de/Schongau.
