The burden in the Würzburg health office is immense. Many employees there are responsible for containing the pandemic. But how exactly? Five people and their tasks.
The corona pandemic has Würzburg firmly under control. Restaurants are closed, many shops are only allowed to open under strict security regulations and in many offices the lights have been out for weeks. There can be no question of this in the Würzburg Health Department. The light continues to burn in numerous rooms of the large district office building – even into the late evening hours. Hardly anyone gets to know behind the scenes how and what the employees actually work there. This editorial team met five heads behind the tasks and thus got an insight into the daily work that hardly anyone else sees.
Jörn Rohde: Telephone problem solver
Photo: Ulises Ruiz
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In the corona crisis, it is often the first contact between the citizen and the authority: the citizen phone in the district office. If you are not sure how to react correctly, you will find a contact person there – from person to person and not from person to machine. At the beginning of March, a handful of employees provided callers with initial information using a questionnaire. The employees thus prevented people from rushing into the emergency rooms en masse, for example, because they couldn’t know better.
Since then, the citizen phone has been increased and moved to a large boardroom. Up to 700 calls were received there occasionally every day, now there are around 200. Jörn Rohde also works on the handset. The 26-year-old has entered a list of volunteers and came to the citizen phone. “Much of it consists of ordering tests,” he explains. Because it comes into play when the questions are medical and complicated. Then he takes over the calls from his colleagues who provide general assistance. It is difficult to summarize which questions are asked. Because there are many and the topics are widely spread. For example, he advises medical practices on special questions. “It’s a job that I can take a lot with,” says the young doctor.
Marieke Wildenauer: The test manager
Photo: Ulises Ruiz
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But what happens to people who have been instructed by doctor Jörn Rohde to be tested? Just walk to the test station like that, that’s not possible. Because the examinations have to be planned. This is where Marieke Wildenauer comes in. She is in direct contact with the Würzburg University Hospital. A central test station was created there in March. “I am the interface, so to speak,” explains the 48-year-old. Because test appointments have to be organized so that not too many test persons arrive at the university clinic at the same time.
So far, that has worked very well, Wildenauer knows. Usually only one or two people would sit in the waiting room of building D20. There is no question of overcrowding that could accelerate the spread. Four people could be tested in 15 minutes. “The burden was very high at the beginning,” she recalls. She would have seen big and small dramas. In the meantime, she has recognized a well-established routine. “We just have to learn from the crisis,” she says.
“The burden was very high at the beginning.”
Marieke Wildenauer–
Tonia Ebner: The investigator
Photo: Ulises Ruiz
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Anyone who tested positive for the corona virus may have infected others. But how do you find out these people? Tonia Ebner knows that. Before the corona crisis, she was actually responsible for health promotion and prevention. Now she is an investigator by phone. What sounds like a job with the police also has similar features. The 38-year-old and her colleagues use the phone to find out who a corona patient was in contact with. “20 to 25 people come together,” she reports. A conversation then often lasts 30 minutes. “The people should first think in peace, sometimes it also gushes out of them to whom they were in contact,” says Ebner.
You will be informed that you are a so-called Category I contact person – it remains anonymous to whom you should have been in contact. Ebner has reason to be happy despite the difficult work. Because she notices the positive consequences of the exit restrictions. Because since these take effect, the list of contact persons has shrunk.
Dr. Barbara Finkenberg: The coordinator
Photo: Ulises Ruiz
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During the corona crisis, many departments in the health department work together even more closely. But how do you keep an overview? Dr. knows that Barbara Finkenberg. She is one of the deputy heads of the health department. A classic daily routine is currently only available for one thing. “The day starts with emails and it ends with emails,” she says. She coordinates all steps in the health department and also takes care of many inquiries that are made internally but also externally.
A big topic is, for example, the situation in nursing homes or the so-called general dispositions. In addition to the duration of the domestic quarantine, these are used to determine, for example, that Category I contacts may not leave the apartment during this period without the express consent of the Health Department. In addition, the health department randomly reports to the affected people to check the state of health, but also to check compliance with home quarantine. Finkenberg is also responsible for this coordination. The health department was hit hard by the crisis, as the 42-year-old says. But thanks to the solidarity of many colleagues, it was possible to act quickly. “Many who had nothing to do with this topic immediately agreed to help,” she says.
Miriam Meder: expert on paragraphs
Photo: Ulises Ruiz
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The Bavarian Disaster Protection Act alone has 20 articles, each with several paragraphs. The Infection Protection Act adds eleven articles. Keeping track of legal issues is not easy. In the health department there are always many questions that have a legal background. This is where Miriam Meder’s work begins. In the past, she had a lot to do with data protection and planning approval procedures. Today, for example, she takes care of general directives or legal questions that reach the health department via the citizens’ telephone.
As head of the youth, social and health division, she is responsible for the health department of the city and district of Würzburg. It is also part of the dual leadership of the disaster control management group at the district office (short: FüGK). There, experts from various areas (doctors, the Bundeswehr, representatives of the authorities and more) decide on the next steps in two sessions a day. Meder coordinates the work within the FüGK.
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