Austria needs a needs-based range of child and youth rehabilitation facilities. This knowledge was the basis for establishing the kokon in Rohrbach-Berg. However, no one could have foreseen that, as reported, group therapies would not prove to be practicable and that Corona would also cause start-up difficulties. Financial turbulence was the result. However, the Rohrbach-Berg location continues to make a significant contribution to improving the offer. With the establishment of a targeted long-covid rehab for young people, the rehab experts have already proven that they can react quickly to current pandemic-related new requirements.
Specially designed for children
A special range of diagnostics and therapy and treatment concepts that are individually tailored to the clinical picture are key components of success. Ideas regarding a special rehab program for children and adolescents with mentally related eating disorders are open to everyone. “To question the basic need for the children’s and youth rehabilitation facility in Rohrbach-Berg in its current form was simply absurd to put it mildly,” says managing director Stefan Günther with conviction and leaves no doubt that he has started the discussion about its use and considers possible reallocation of the site to be inappropriate based on the facts and data available.
In this context, Günther points out the detailed requirements planning by independent experts, which of course was the basis for the planning and construction and was designed very cautiously compared to Germany. “Accordingly, we need 343 rehab beds for children and adolescents in Austria, 109 of them in the northern supply region,” quoted Günther from the expert report. With 77 beds, the Rohrbach-Berg location plays an essential role. In view of the corona-related framework conditions, it is hardly surprising that the occupancy rate of the facility, which opened in autumn 2019, does not correspond to the forecasts. “Our house was closed for three months in 2020 alone, and of course every single lockdown contributes to uncertainty, which is reflected in the pavement situation.”
Until the introduction of new offers and the conclusion of the negotiations for more individual therapies, the Upper Austrian Health Holding will step in financially. The supervisory board has approved the grant for the currently underfunded child and youth rehabilitation “kokon” in Rohrbach-Berg in order to ensure its continued existence.
As a minority owner with a share of 35 percent in the child and youth rehab “kokon” in Rohrbach-Berg, the Upper Austrian Health Holding will make its proportional financial contribution to keep the facility running. At the same time, the Upper Austrian health holding presented the supervisory board with a development concept for offering early rehabilitation for children and adolescents with eating disorders in the “kokon” in Rohrbach-Berg.
Cover increasing demand
This should be a response to the pandemic-related increasing demand among children and adolescents and at the same time ensure adequate utilization of the rehabilitation center. This will enable this facility, which is so important for the care of children, to continue to exist and develop further.
Source: Nachrichten
