The planned new psychiatry building in Offenbach has been delayed

• fromAgnes Schoenberger

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Construction of a new psychiatry building at Offenbach’s Sana-Klinikum should start in 2017; now it will start in 2022 at the earliest. The accommodation of the patients is considered to be out of date.

In March 2016, the Hessian Minister of Social Affairs Stefan Grüttner (CDU) presented the Offenbach Sana-Klinikum with a funding decision for 8.5 million euros for the new building of the psychiatry. According to the planning, work should start in 2017 and the building should be ready in 2020. But the psychiatry is still housed in an old building and containers that are in need of renovation. Construction should now start in 2022 at the earliest. And the funding commitment no longer applies.

Reason for the delay: A development plan is being drawn up for the entire clinic premises with new buildings and extensions. So far, the area – apart from the parking garage – was not included in the planning. In the past, construction projects were approved in accordance with Section 34 of the Building Code, according to which extensions fit into the peculiarities of the surrounding area.

This will no longer be possible in the future, the planned changes are extensive. They not only concern new clinic-related buildings and the expansion of the parking garage, but also include upgrading the site with a “green center” as a public park, new residential buildings in the southwest and expansion of the green ring in the north of the area.

The approval resolution for the “Klinikum Offenbach” development plan, which the city council should actually take this autumn, is expected to be presented to them in the first half of 2021. In the best-case scenario, the plan could become legally binding at the end of next year, says Jürgen Weil, consultant for planning department Paul-Gerhard Weiß (FDP). The prerequisite, however, is that no suggestions or concerns were received that required changes to the plan or further expert opinions.

Criticism of delay

The city council of the left, Marion Guth, criticized the delay sharply. The rooms of the psychiatry are completely out of date. A new building has been an issue for 25 years. The delay casts a bad light on the clinic operator, says Guth. After all, psychiatry with 90 beds, the largest department in the clinic, helps the company make millions in profits every year. Health officer Sabine Groß (Greens) explains that the buildings are older, “but still fully functional”.

The delay has meant that the approved individual funding of 8.5 million euros for the new building no longer applies. The Ministry of Social Affairs announced that the old funding was “very tight” earmarked. Modified plans are to be submitted for approval. If the funding purpose “new psychiatry” is fulfilled, an adjustment of the funding notification will be examined.

Last year, Sana opened a new administration building and a new operating theater. But the employees and the patients of the psychiatry have to be patient. As early as 2016, everyone involved agreed that the layout of the rooms and the accommodation of the patients were no longer up to date. At that time, renovation of the buildings was considered unreasonable for economic reasons.

When the funding decision was handed over in 2016, head physician Till Glauner had hoped that the time of mere wishful thinking would soon be over. He spoke of “unfavorable framework conditions” for patient care. At the time, Grüttner emphasized that good rooms are a contribution to successful treatment for mentally ill people.

In the Clinic for Psychiatry, around 1800 patients are cared for on an inpatient basis every year. In the three-storey new building with 3600 square meters of usable space adjacent to the main building, the number of seats should not change. 14 single and 38 double rooms as well as 20 semi-inpatient places are planned in four care wards. There are also 15 therapy rooms. The costs were estimated at 17 million euros in 2016.

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