The Staff Council will have to advise the hospital board on the integration plans soon. However, according to surgeon Geerard Beets (also a professor at the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, FHML) and internist Janine van Elssen (also a lecturer at FHML), there has not yet been a definitive verdict on the “mountain of paperwork” encompassing the plans. “The fact we had to answer within a month of the documents being published is not right,” said Van Elssen. They asked for an extension and were given one, until 31 March.
However, there are some things they want to say now. That the medical specialists are “desperate” for closer cooperation, for example. Particularly with FHML, where many doctors also hold an appointment. “That would get an unequivocal ‘yes’ here,” said Beets. “The reaction to integration with the whole university is more like, ‘Alright, if that’s what it takes to get closer to the faculty...’”
The biggest concern
Not everyone is pleased with how that would look in practice. The biggest concern is “that the new governance model, with an Executive Council governing both the hospital and the university, would make decision-making slower and more expensive.” With the added fear that it would give the university too big a say in the running of the hospital: “Could they block things we really want?”
“The university and the hospital often seem to talk at cross purposes”
Ironically, those same objections were mirrored in various faculty councils. Can either of them imagine the apprehension at the thought of a ‘health university’ and the power of the hospital? Yes, “but that fear is ungrounded,” said Beets. “The fact that more people work here and that there is more money involved in the hospital doesn’t mean that we would have a greater say. And nobody here is looking to interfere with the teaching and research elsewhere at the university.”
Surprisingly
Somewhat surprisingly, there has been no contact yet with the University Council, which voted ‘no’ on the plans last week. “But we would love to know their main objections. The university and the hospital often seem to talk at cross purposes.”
In the meantime, the MUMC+ Works Council has chosen not to comment. They will be voting on the integration plans on 9 March. “In a bid not to influence this process”, they will not be speaking to the media until then.