The green-red majority in the town hall wants to keep obstetrics in Neuperlach after all. According to a press release, the Greens/Pink List parliamentary group spoke out “after an intensive debate” in favor of continuing to operate the maternity clinic for the next six years. In 2027, obstetric care in Munich is to be reassessed using current data.
The SPD had already spoken out in favor of keeping the maternity clinic at its city party conference in November. According to city council member Lena Odell, even without a time limit. “The midwives in Neuperlach do an excellent job, and many women from the east of Munich make a conscious decision to give birth there. As a group, we are committed to ensuring that it stays that way,” says Odell.
Actually, the restructuring plans of the municipal Munich clinic, which also includes the Neuperlacher hospital, envisage a merger of the department with obstetrics in the Harlachinger hospital as early as 2024. At the same time, capacities are to be further expanded there.
But when the team of midwives and pediatric nurses in Neuperlach presented a petition against these plans a few months ago, which more than 22,000 people have now signed, the political actors began to think differently. “The maternity clinic in Neuperlach covers a large area in the south-east of Munich,” says Green City Councilor Hannah Gerstenkorn, who is also a member of the Munich Clinic’s supervisory board. Overloads in the delivery rooms and simultaneous closures of delivery rooms in the surrounding area speak in favor of preservation. Against the background of the hospital reform announced by the federal government, a closure would be “a step into the unknown”, according to Green City Councilor Florian Roth.
The SPD sees it similarly. It is hoped that the federal government will significantly improve the financial framework for municipal hospitals, said City Councilor Odell. However, a joint application by the coalition parties is not planned for the time being, she says. One would like to wait for the result of an evaluation of the Munich care situation in obstetrics, it will probably be on the agenda this autumn.