General Hospital
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History
The origins of Vienna General Hospital go back more than three hundred years to Dr. Johann Franckh, who donated properties, in 1686, after the end of the second Viennese-Turkish war, at the corridor Schaffernack for the establishment of a military hospital. However, since money was lacking for the establishment of the buildings, the disabled veterans were quartered, including families, in the Kontumazhof (epidemic hospital), already in existence. In 1693, Emperor Leopold I arranged the establishment of the "Home for the Poor and Invalid". In 1697, the first ward was finished, into which 1042 persons were quartered. In 1724, 1740 persons were already living there. Extending the complex was made possible by the will of Ferdinand Baron von Thavonat, who donated his possession after his death in 1726 to disabled soldiers. The marriage or widow yard, now Thavonathof, was to be finished. Also, the side yards formed by Zwischentrakte, the patient yard, Restaurant economics and craftsman center were established.
During 1752 to 1774, further development occurred for the student yard and the house supervisor yard. The inhabitants had to wear their own uniforms and received individual copper coins, which could be redeemed with the bakers in the complex, butchers, etc. The dissolution of the neighboring cemetery came finally in 1834 of the 8th and 9th wards, in addition. On January 28, 1783, Emperor Joseph II visited the poorhouse. He stated the fact that the enormous plant served less the Notlinderung (relieve of suffering), but often people were accommodated, which had arrived there under protection or Schlamperei (arbitrariness). Professor Dr. Joseph Quarin was assigned to draft a plan for a new general hospital plan. On August 16, 1784, the opening took place. The hospital was responsible initially only for the accommodation of patients; the remaining tasks of the hospitals were kept separate. To the hospital was attached a bearing house and a lunatic asylum; the Narrenturm - the first special building for the accommodation for the mentally ill. The building was rededicated as the "General Hospital for the Sick" by order of Emperor Joseph II and in the decades which followed, the development of new forms of diagnosis and therapy necessitated the continuous addition of annexes.
However economic recessions and two world wars prevented the completion of the "new clinics" concept. It was not until 1957 that the decision was made to erect a new major central building. The implementation of the first construction phase (school building including boarding facilities, staff apartment blocks) began in the summer of 1964. The second construction phase followed in 1968 with the building of the university clinics for pediatrics, psychiatry, child and adolescent neuropsychiatry, depth psychology and psychotherapy, and day nursery. The third construction phase consisted of an underground car park in 1970. The fourth, and also the most comprehensive construction phase (the main building and annexes) was commenced in 1974. In January 1991 the first medical care unit, namely the University Clinic for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, opened for treatment. It was followed in succession by the commissioning of all the university clinics and institutes, firstly the conservative departments, then the surgical departments.
The inscription from 1784, "Saluti et solatio aegrorum" ("To heal and comfort the sick"), which decorates the archway at the entrance of the old Vienna General Hospital still is also at the entrance of the new Vienna General Hospital, expressing devotion to the suffering. Particularly in the 19th century, Vienna General Hospital was the center of the Viennese Medical School, as one of the centers of medical research. Thus Ignaz Semmelweis made his observations of hygiene, and Karl Landsteiner discovered at the AKH the groups of blood types. On the site of the old AKH, are since removal, the medical institutes of the Campus of the University of Vienna with numerous mental-scientific institutes as well as several catering trade enterprises and smaller enterprises.
The Narrenturm (Fool's Tower)
In the old AKH stands the first building world-wide for the accommodation of mental patients, established in 1784 under Emperor Joseph II by Isidore Canevale. The building consisted of a five-part fortress-like circular building with slot-like windows for 200 to 250 mental patients. In its strict geometrical form and austerity, the building is considered as a high point of the revolution classicism. Each cell had strong lattice doors and rings for chaining unrestrained patients. Ten years later, the tower was already completely outdated due to innovations in the therapy for mental patients. From its round form is derived the usual colloquial designation in Vienna, Gugelhupf, meaning lunatic asylums and/or psychiatric hospitals. The notion that the Fool's Tower is a conversion of the idea of the Panopticon of Jeremy Bentham does not apply, since the cells are not controllable from a central observation post.
Already at the oldest model, the Fool's Tower has at the roof ridge a lightning rod or a Blitzfaenger. Two of its mounting plates in the inner court still exist. Independently of Benjamin Franklin, who invented the lightning rod in 1753, the minister of Primetice, Prokop Divis, in 1754, built the first world-wide grounded lead in his garden. Josef II knew well the attempts of Divis, which specifically concerned an assumed health benefit from currents. Whether the lightning conductors were used, for the treatment of the patients, has not been clarified.
New General Hospital
With time, the Joseph-era buildings of the general hospital became unwieldy, so in 1957, it was decided to establish a new large central hospital. The building of the new AKH was begun in the summer of 1964. At the beginning, the personnel hostels and the university clinics for child medicine were moved. In 1974, the building of the main house was begun. This consists of an outpatient clinic and OI area (approx. 50 OI halls) and two large, 22-floor high bed towers, which accommodate 2,199 beds. The AKH is connected with its own underground (subway) station (U6 Michelbeuern/AKH) to the public transportation network. The Zentralbau (central building) with the bed towers was officially opened in 1994, but already used (partly) since 1991. The total construction costs are equivalent, in 2004 values, to approximately 4.5 billion Euro, projected as 1 billion Schilling (72.67 million Euro originally). The construction costs were carried together by the city of Vienna and the Austrian federation. The cost explosion and an associated bribery affair with the building of the new AKH led to the AKH scandal, the largest Austrian building scandal.
Moreover, the Austrian magazine ECO reported that only 60% of the AKH was used, and was thus planned much too large. The unused (however completely equipped) part stands completely empty.
At present, about 9,000 people are employed at the AKH. Of these, approximately 1,600 physicians and 4,500 allied health and nursing workers attend to patients. Annually, nearly 95,000 people are treated as inpatients, and another half-million attend the hospital's 384 outpatient clinics. Over 11,000 students are registered at the Medical University of Vienna. The guiding principle of the university clinics and university establishments at the Vienna General Hospital is the combination of health care, teaching and research and it is thus a University Hospital. The wide range and variety of science and teaching, supported by extensive capital investment, permits top-class medicine and training.
The methods applied are justifiable, repeatable and verified. The acquired know-how is made available nationally and internationally, and results are continually evaluated. Members of various professions are involved in both research and teaching. They contribute to the reputation of the Vienna General Hospital as an important research and training center for the medical and health care professions. In continued recognition of the long-established "Viennese school of medicine" patients are treated in accordance with the latest medical knowledge and thus contribute to the international reputation of the establishment. With the development of new methods and the setting of new standards the hospital can exert a substantial influence on trends in health policy. It combines state-of-the art standards in medicine and equipment with sympathy and understanding of the human condition.
Facts and Figures
| Facility | Number | Beds | Number | Personnel | Number | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University Clinics | 26 | Normal Care | 1,849 | Doctors | 1,441 | ||
| Clinical Institutes | 10 | Intensive Care | 165 | Scientific | 159 | ||
| Clinical Departments | 42 | Intermediate Care | 91 | Midwifes | 34 | ||
| Outpatient Departments | 62 | Day Care | 84 | Specialist Nurses | 2,832 | ||
| Specialist Outpatient Dep. | 341 | per normal care room | max. 30 | Medical-Technical | 1,133 | ||
| Normal Care Units | 80 | per Sickroom | 1, 2 or 3 | Auxiliary Staff | 332 | ||
| Intensive Care Units | 21 | Administration and Office | 1,132 | ||||
| Operation Theaters | 51 | Operational | 1,348 | ||||
| Treatment Rooms | 21 | Other | 539 | ||||
| Recovery Rooms | 7 | ||||||
| Total | 661 | 2,189 | 8,928 |
Medical University
Main Article: School of Medicine
The primary mission of the Medical University of Vienna is to serve research and education in the broadest sense. It seeks advances in medical science to cure and relieve the symptoms of illnesses, maintain health, and foster social prosperity in a thriving environment. Building on its research programs, educational facilities, and curricula, the Medical University of Vienna strives to respond effectively to the ever-changing needs of State and society. In all its endeavors the Medical University of Vienna remains focused on the goals of humane society. It is dedicated to internationalism and consequently to shared responsibility for its recent history and the unjust deeds committed in its name during the years of Austrian National Socialism. In addition to the central principle of equal opportunity for its colleagues and students, the University dedicates itself equally to acknowledging and fostering individual achievement.
The graduate study in human and dental medicine has been recast completely in the last few years. As early as the third semester, students learn basic medical skills and no longer study anatomy, pharmacology, and pathology "in isolation." The teaching of medical competence with the MCV proceeds step-by-step in topic-oriented modules. Courses on medical skills run parallel to these modules and are refined in the clinical third phase of the study. In the learning module dedicated to the heart, blood and circulation, for example, students acquire detailed relevant knowledge about the structure, development, and function of each, as well as the most frequent and significant cardiac and circulatory diseases. In the module on the brain, nervous system, and pain students learn imaging diagnostics, neurological examination methods, and the latest findings in analgesic research in conjunction with the anatomical basics of the brain and nervous system. With this internationally respected method of integrated learning it is possible to initiate an ever-expanding learning spiral that significantly eases the student's comprehension of interconnectedness.
