As of: April 7, 2024, 8:00 a.m
By: Wolfgang Schörner
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“We are still there for you”: (from left) senior physicians Christian Wissing and Jan Mehler as well as chief physician Susanne Rogers, who are taking part in the surgery evening with senior physicians Johannes Kormann and Christoph Seiler. © Wolfgang Schörner
In view of hospital reform and the red numbers that even large clinics are in, there are also concerns about the continued existence of the Penzberg hospital. The closure of the Schongauer Haus doesn't exactly bring peace of mind. In Penzberg people are trying to dispel their worries. It says they want to expand the offering.
Penzberg – Most recently, an observer could get the feeling that the Penzberg hospital, which is part of the “Starnberg Clinics”, is experiencing a gradual decline. Medical Director Dr. Since the summer, Susanne Rogers has no longer only been the head of surgery in Penzberg, but also in Starnberg. Prof. Dr. Anz, chief physician of the internal department, has also been commuting recently. “Starnberger Kliniken” boss Dr. Thomas Weiler also warned last summer that because of Berlin's reform plans, it is unclear whether there will still be emergency care in Penzberg in the future.
Chief physician Rogers in Penzberg: “There can be no talk of reductions”
Medical Director Rogers knows about the concerns among the population. “There can be no talk of dismantling,” she emphasizes. Rather, the “Starnberger Kliniken” would like to expand the offering in Penzberg – both in surgery and in the internal department (see box below). The only thing that is no longer available is the colon cancer operations that are now being carried out in Starnberg. To this end, general and visceral surgery is being expanded in Penzberg.
When asked about the emergency room, Rogers says that the “Starnberg Clinics” want to maintain it “as the Penzbergers know it, i.e. in full.” However, she admits “remaining uncertainty” – because of the hospital reform. For example, if a 30-minute drive to the emergency room is declared to be reasonable, things can get tight for Penzberg. “But we can’t decide that,” she says.
Own lecture evening at the Penzberg Hospital
In order to address the concerns, the hospital is holding a special evening on April 17th as part of the “Penzberger Consultation Hour” entitled “We are still there for you”, which revolves around surgery. When she came to the hospital six years ago, there was no dedicated department for visceral surgery, says Rogers. Now she and four senior physicians would form the team – with “well over 100 years of surgical experience,” says senior physician Dr. Jan Mehler. The senior medical team also includes Dr. Christian Wissing, Dr. Johannes Kormann and Prof. Dr. Christoph Seiler. The department also has eight assistant doctors and medical assistants with specialist areas.
Hospital wants to become a hernia center and obesity center
According to Rogers, the Penzberg Hospital is aiming for certification as a hernia center in 2025 – a seal of quality for the treatment of abdominal wall and inguinal hernias. They also want to set up an obesity center within two or three years - this involves severe obesity, which can be treated, for example, with stomach reduction or a bypass between the stomach and intestines. Penzberg, says Mehler, already has everything it needs, including an operating table that can carry a lot of weight.
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During the “consultation hour” the team of surgeons will present their range of services. In addition to general surgery, for example operations on the appendix and inguinal hernias, and acute emergency care for inflammation in the abdominal cavity, this also includes coloproctology, which involves the colon and rectum as well as the pelvic floor. Starnberg and Penzberg form a pelvic floor center in the area, one of four certified centers in Bavaria. There is a pelvic floor consultation in Penzberg.
Rogers does not see the fact that she is the chief doctor in Penzberg and Starnberg as a disadvantage. By working together, she says, the team has doubled in size. “It is not a weakening, but rather a strengthening for Penzberg.”
Lecture evening as part of the “Penzberger Consultation Hours” series
The lecture “We are still here for you – the range of general and visceral surgery services at the Penzberg Clinic” as part of the “Penzberg Consultation Hour” can be heard on Wednesday, April 17th, from 7 p.m. in the hospital’s event room. The speakers are chief physician Dr. Susanne Rogers and the senior physicians Dr. Jan Mehler, Dr. Christian Wissing, Dr. Johannes Kormann and Prof. Dr. Christoph Seiler. Admission is free.
Internal department in Penzberg: 100,000 euro investment and artificial intelligence
Professor Dr. Anz the internal department of the Penzberg Hospital for the future. The head of internal medicine counters concerns that it is gradually being reduced in size with an example: The “Starnberger Kliniken”, to which the Penzberger Haus belongs, are investing almost 100,000 euros in a second endoscopy room. According to Anz, the background is that in 2023 the number of endoscopy cases and the complexity of the examinations will have increased significantly, by up to 40 percent for some types of examinations. He says that many new, complex endoscopic examinations are being carried out in Penzberg, which are normally only offered in large hospitals with large gastroenterology departments. The only endoscopy room at the Penzberg Hospital so far is at 120 percent capacity.
The internal department in Penzberg, says the chief physician, “will remain and will be enlarged”. Since last year, he reports, there has been a very innovative procedure for removing polyps in the intestine, called endoscopic submucosal dissection. In addition, endoscopic full-thickness resection is used to remove tumors in Penzberg, which is not standard everywhere, he explains. Polyps are usually benign growths, but they can become colon cancer. Conversely, all colon cancer arises from polyps.
According to Anz, at the beginning of the year the Penzberg Hospital also invested in a modern procedure that uses artificial intelligence to better detect polyps in the intestine. After the colonoscopy, the AI shows on the screen what is suspicious and should be looked at more closely. A “great process,” says Anz. In addition, according to him, CO2 (instead of air) has been used to inflate the intestines during endoscopic examinations in Penzberg since last year. This is a “gentler method,” he says. There are hardly any patients anymore who have pain after the endoscopy.
In addition to the chief physician, the internal department in Penzberg (medical clinic in technical jargon) has four senior physicians and eight assistant physicians. The focus is gastroenterology. Anz himself spends around 40 percent in Penzberg and 60 percent in Starnberg, where he has also recently started running the medical clinic. Which according to him isn't a problem. In 2023, the number of cases in the inpatient sector in his department in Penzberg increased. They will be surpassed again in 2024. The intensive care unit is almost always full, he says. Looking at the entire 100-bed facility, he says that the deficit is not because there are too few patients. “There is nothing to suggest that we are experiencing a decline. The need is there and it is being met.”