Following the state government’s decision not to allocate any funds in next year’s draft budget for the planned construction of the university hospital, there has been widespread opposition.
“Revise the decision”, “Don’t miss out on investments in the future” or “An affront to the entire region”: The university, the city and the region, as well as medical associations and numerous interest groups, are using strong language to oppose the state government’s plans not to fund, for the time being, the construction of a much-needed teaching and research building for University Medicine Oldenburg.
Regional politicians are also backing the new building: on 16 July, CDU and SPD MPs from the region gathered together with Oldenburg’s Lord Mayor Jürgen Krogmann and University Vice-Chancellor Jörg Stahlmann in front of the university’s Clinical Training Centre. In a joint statement, politicians from the CDU and SPD had previously asserted that the governing coalition in Hanover had a duty to provide the European Medical School, as a public higher education institution, with the necessary funding.
Ending the underfunding of the University Medical Centre
On 6 July, the Lower Saxony state government had decided not to allocate any funds for the construction of the new university hospital in the draft 2021 budget. Of the approximately 140 million euros that the building on the municipal site on Pophankenweg is expected to cost, around 80 million was to be provided by the state government for the first phase of construction next year.
“The German Council of Science and Humanities was right to call for an end to the underfunding of University Medicine Oldenburg following its visit in autumn 2018,” says University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper. Without the proposed new medical school building, the further expansion of medical training in Oldenburg would simply not be possible. “The decisive reason for establishing a medical degree programme at the time was the looming shortage of doctors in the north-west. This situation has worsened further since 2011. Future medical care in the region is therefore at risk – and we can only remedy this with adequate funding.”
Maintaining the quality of the degree programme
Without the construction project, the foundations of University Medicine Oldenburg would be at risk, as the Scientific Advisory Board – which advises the university on the further development of the School – also notes in its recently published statement: “The building is the central link between research and patient care and will, in future, combine the site’s existing strengths in natural and life sciences research with medicine.”
Oldenburg’s medical students, too, have sharply criticised the state government and are demanding that it commit to financing the new teaching and research building. This is urgently needed to maintain the quality of the degree programme, particularly given the growing number of places, according to a statement from the student body. “Even with the current number of students, there is no longer enough space for the trainee doctors or sufficient research space for the professors.”
An impressive range of courses
The University Senate had already emphasised in a statement on 8 July that the state government’s decision ran counter to the outstanding development work carried out by the University and its cooperation partners. In its statement, the University Senate also refers to the positive assessment issued by the German Council of Science and Humanities last year.
Last July, the federal and state governments’ most important scientific advisory body had attested that the model degree programme in human medicine, the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen (EMS), offered an “impressive range of courses” that had been “convincingly implemented”. However, the council had, amongst other things, urged that the necessary infrastructure be further developed – not least to enable the planned expansion of the degree programme from 40 to up to 200 students by the mid-2020s, as agreed with the state government.
Expansion of the medical degree programme is absolutely essential
Last winter semester, 80 budding doctors began their studies in Oldenburg for the first time – and there are set to be even more soon. According to University President Piper, this is a project that cannot be realised under the current conditions. It is therefore now time to act. “After all, we know that the majority of students always settle in the region where they undertake their training. Expanding the medical degree programme in Oldenburg makes sense and is absolutely essential,” said Piper.
The Lower Saxony Ministry of Science had already applied for additional funding for the necessary building works at the University of Oldenburg. However, the state government has now rejected the proposal as part of its planning for the 2021 draft budget. The government justifies its fundamental decision – with a few exceptions – not to include funding for new projects in the draft 2021 budget and the medium-term financial plan by citing the additional expenditure and tax shortfalls that the state has incurred or will incur as a result of the coronavirus crisis.
Convinced by the degree programme’s concept
For many, this line of reasoning is difficult to understand: University Medicine Oldenburg launched School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences in 2012. Since then, the state has provided continuous funding for it. In a press release, the Marburger Bund of Lower Saxony emphasises that, whilst it understands that the coronavirus pandemic poses a particular challenge to the state budget, this must not mean that urgently needed investments in the future are neglected.
The Oldenburg medical students therefore urge the state government to keep its promise not to make any significant cuts to measures already underway, despite these difficult times: “We are convinced of the merits of our degree programme. The successes of previous graduates vindicate both the concept behind University Medicine Oldenburg and its implementation,” the students write.
The university management shares this view: the pandemic in particular demonstrates just how important good healthcare and the training of doctors are for the north-west, says Piper. “We assume that the final word has not yet been spoken. University Medicine Oldenburg finally needs a solid and sustainable foundation.”
