Lohr’s pediatrician closes his practice in summer

The news shocked many parents in the Lohr area: Pediatrician Jrgen Mener closed his practice in Lohr on July 31. The original plan that the doctor employed by him would take over the practice failed because the 40-year-old moved out of Lohr with her family. The 67-year-old pediatrician, who has been practicing in Lohr for more than 34 years, has not yet found another potential successor.

Jrgen Mener has been looking for a successor for five years and was happy when the pediatrician, who had been working in his practice since October 2017, was interested in taking over. “It was planned that she would gradually take over the practice. I would have continued to work for a while until she would have brought in a colleague. Unfortunately, that broke up,” said the 67-year-old.

Purely private reasons for moving away

Mener’s potential successor, who lives in Wombach with her husband, who is also a doctor, and her two daughters, is also sad about this. She doesn’t want her name published. The 40-year-old described the reasons for her move to the editorial office as “purely private”. Her husband has changed professionally, which is why she will move to the Wrzburg / Schweinfurt / Bamberg area at the end of July, she says. “We want to stay together as a family and not be a weekend family. That is why it is not possible for me to continue working here,” explains the pediatrician.

Her departure has nothing to do with the Lohrer practice, where she works 20 hours a week. “I have a very good relationship with Dr. Mener, his team, the patients and parents. I was very well received and valued here. I would have loved to take over the practice,” says the pediatrician.

The career change was not foreseeable for the family. The couple had already bought a building site in Lohr and wanted to stay there for a long time. At the end of March, his colleague told him that she would move away, says Mener. At the beginning of this week, the Lohr pediatrician announced with a notice that he would close his practice in the summer. “My colleague moves away on July 31st. Then I have no more support. That’s why I’m closing the practice on this date,” he explains.

Shocked at closure

Verena Friedel from Frammersbach said she was very satisfied with the two Lohr pediatricians. With her daughters aged two and four, she felt in good hands in practice. For the 29-year-old, the announcement that summer was over came as a complete surprise: “I was a bit shocked because I thought the doctor would take over the practice.”

The news of the practical task spread like wildfire among parents. Now the other pediatricians in Karlstadt, Gemnden and Marktheidenfeld have received requests from mothers whether their children can be admitted there as patients in the future.

According to the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians in Bavaria (KVB), ten pediatricians in the Main-Spessart district currently share the eight doctor’s offices. They are responsible for the medical care of around 19,500 citizens under the age of 18. “The problem is that the colleagues in the region already have a lot of work and are not necessarily waiting to take care of my patients,” says pediatrician Jrgen Mener.

His outgoing colleague reports that she has already received some messages and calls from parents. “They are very sad and afraid of not being able to find a pediatrician in the area,” says the 40-year-old.

Pediatricians are already at the limit

Joachim Mller-Scholden is a pediatrician and pediatric cardiologist. The 58-year-old runs a medical practice together with Matthias Bhme in Marktheidenfeld and speaks of numerous inquiries. Neither in his practice, nor among his colleagues in the district, does he see much freedom. “We are certainly all of the stress at the limit,” emphasizes the pediatrician Marktheidenfeld.

Mller-Scholden sees the danger that many children and adolescents can no longer be looked after by a pediatrician. Therefore, the 58-year-old wants to discuss with his colleagues in the district what they can do. “In Marktheidenfeld we will try to take care of all the infants and toddlers. And we will have a conversation with Mr. Mener to find out which children and adolescents are chronically ill and who need constant care so that at least they can continue to be cared for adequately,” Marktheidenfeld names pediatrician as the goal.

He asks the parents who want to come back to his practice for patience: “We are saying at the moment that we do not want to give clear information in April and that they should call again in mid-May, because then the pediatricians should be in a circle have agreed on how to proceed. “

Own practice less asked

The chance that there will still be a successor for the Lohr pediatric practice is slim. There are too few pediatricians on the market. And most of them would not have their own practice, but would rather work as employees, says Jrgen Mener. “One has the feeling that the independence of many of the colleagues is no longer desirable because of the organizational effort. In one’s own practice, administration, personnel management and material procurement are added to the medical practice,” explains the Lohr pediatrician.

But sometimes there are other reasons: Mener tells that a prospect looked at the practice a few years ago. “But his wife said she wouldn’t go into such a small place,” reports the 67-year-old. The Lohr pediatrician, who has done everything possible to relieve the pain of his young patients for about 34 years, is currently suffering himself. “It hurts my soul that I have not found a successor,” he says.