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The relief is great in the Chalet Almenrausch on the Valais Bettmeralp. In the future, a doctor will also take care of sick residents and injured tourists. Alpine practice has been saved – thanks to Bern insight.
After the National Council, the Council of States also decided on Thursday to relax the licensing rules for doctors in exceptional cases. At least for a limited time. A new law came into force at the beginning of 2022, which not only caused difficulties for the practice at Bettmeralp. The new regulation: A doctor must have worked in a Swiss hospital or another recognized training center for at least three years before he can run his own practice.
Exceptions for peripheral regions
The tightening makes the search for successors for medical practices even more difficult, especially in peripheral regions. On the Bettmeralp, the German Joachim Friese would have found a successor for the poor health of the Bergdoktor Gregor Müller (65). But even though he has been working in Switzerland for several years, he cannot take over the practice on his own due to the new law.
Parliament has now acted under pressure from the cantons. And just 14 months after it went into effect, the law changed again. In the event of medical undersupply, a canton may allow exceptions to the three-year rule in certain fields in the future. The change is expected to take effect in two weeks. The National Council and the Council of States both still have to give the green light for the introduction of the turbo. But that’s a formality.
“A Great Burden Was Dropped From My Heart”
“Today a very big stone fell from my heart for me and my colleague Joachim Friese,” says doctor Gregor Müller. For him, the decision means that he will soon be able to retire.
Friese is looking forward to taking over the practice completely soon. “It is especially nice that what felt like home in recent months can now also become my home. And I will not be forced to leave,” he says. Together with Vice Mayor Silvia Imwinkelried, the two doctors toast the long-awaited parliamentary decision with a cup of coffee.
SVPers did not want an exception for child psychiatrists
There was broad agreement in the National Council and the Council of States that action needed to be taken. The Council of States voted unanimously in favor of the amendment – only St. Gallen Benedikt Würth (55, center) abstained. In the National Council there was only opposition from the SVP.
The opponents of the agreed exemption go too far. They wanted it to apply only to general practitioners and paediatricians, but not to child and adolescent psychiatrists and psychotherapists.
Healthcare costs would rise with each newly admitted psychiatrist, Aargau SVP National Councilor Andreas Glarner (60) warned in Tuesday’s debate. “Many therapies could be saved if parents spent free time with their children,” he claimed. The best thing is to go into the woods. “Building a forest hut together or damming a stream saves many a therapy session later.” An argument that could not even convince the entire SVP faction.
Source:Blick
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