The UT is closing its Medical Centre. The two general practitioners (GP), the dentist and their assistants working for the university will be made redundant before the summer of 2002. The practice is two hundred thousand guilders short every year. The executive board (CvB) feels that that is too much.
Thirty seven years of medical care on campus will end soon. For a number of years now the two GPs and the dentist working for the UT are working at a loss. In light of the present economy drive in aid of the primary processes the CvB has decided to close the Medical Centre.
The doctors' practice, as shown by the numbers from the Financial department, has to contend with a deficit of more than two hundred thousand guilders. Last year the dentist turned a loss of 57,000 guilders. Consultancy firm Deltaforum charted the causes of the negative results of the practice at the behest of the board.
The main cause, according to the confidential Deltaforum report is the nature of the patient population. Of the 3,800 registered patients, 80 percent is student and 20 percent is employee or former employee of the UT. Especially students produce a lot of paperwork because of their short stay in the practice and their moving house regularly.
The problems with which students come are usually of a psycho-social nature, but are at first offered as physical problems. This makes for visits that are longer than the national average.
Furthermore, almost all students have private insurance. Patients in the 'Ziekenfonds' (national insurance) yield the practice a fixed amount of f 150, about 3.5 consultations. The average student does not reach that.
The closing of the practice has serious consequences for the independent (sports)physiotherapist in the Medical Centre. 85 percent of his patients are referrals from the campus doctors. He will also be forced to move elsewhere.
