Cumberland Castle: Gmunden loses nursing home with 79 residents!

Cumberland Castle: Gmunden loses nursing home with 79 residents!

The Cumberland Castle Center in Gmunden is closed. The state of Upper Austria recently announced this decision. The historical building, which has been serving as a care facility for many years, has considerable structural defects that no longer enable modern care. Finally, the last comprehensive renovation was carried out 25 years ago. Due to these circumstances, the high costs of a renovation are not portable, which makes closure the only practical solution to offer the 79 residents who often have the most severe impairments to offer new, more suitable living conditions. Tips reports that….

The closure is implemented gradually and socially by the way by transferring the residents to other care facilities in the state by spring 2027 at the latest. A specially founded working group will coordinate this relocation. 24 people should come to the facility in Pfaffing, 14 ANS Christkindl near Steyr, while 41 are housed in the empty nursing home places in the region.

political reactions to the closure

The closure of Cumberland Castle ensures heated debates in politics. While Mayor Stefan Krapf supports the decision and points out that it is necessary to offer residents living conditions that meet modern standards, the SPÖ expresses concerns. She fears that the resettlement of the residents endangered the quality of care and that the remaining staff could be overwhelmed. State Councilor Dörfel, on the other hand, sees the opportunity to create better living conditions through the relocation overall. Gmunden is also actively involved in discussions on the future use of the former castle.

The challenges in nursing are not new. The shortage of skilled workers has been increasingly shown in recent years. [There are interesting perspectives on the statutory regulations at the lawyer,] (https://www.anwalt.de/rechtstipps/pflegeheim-ist-beit-beschter-pfahr-läfgrund-kraeftemangel- zu-Schliessen-208252.html). can be guaranteed. Similar regulations can be found in many federal states, which makes it difficult to maintain institutions that do not meet the necessary standard.

shortage of skilled workers in the entire care industry

The shortage of skilled workers is an acute problem that also affects Austria. In Germany, for example, the problem can be seen by over 300,000 due to an annual increase in the need for care. Forecasts suggest that this number will increase to over six million by 2040. Deutschlandfunk describes the challenge that results from these developments, and explains that over 115,000 jobs are currently vacant.

In order to counteract this development, measures such as recruiting foreign nurses, improving training and payment as well as more flexible working time models are necessary. Innovative concepts could also improve the situation, such as the Dutch “Buurtzorg” model, which relies on self -organization and shows positive results in the care organization. But there is still a lot to do in this area.

In this context, the decision of the State of Upper Austria to close Cumberland, not only the challenges of the building itself, but also the far -reaching problems in the area of ​​care and the urgency of reforms in order to meet the needs of an increasingly old society.