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The health department has opened a supervisory process against the Aarau Cantonal Hospital (KSA) and the former chief doctor of neurosurgery, Javier Fandino. The reason for the process is the serious accusations of two former KSA doctors against Fandino. On August 31, they informed the health department in writing.
They approached the KSA officials earlier. In the introduction, the doctors write that they have already handed over the proceedings at the cantonal hospital to Peter Suter, Chairman of the Board of Directors, “three times with the relevant documents.” Apparently nothing happened. Therefore, the two decided to inform the health director Jean-Pierre Gallati “as a last resort for escalation.”
The KSA does not respond to any questions regarding the ongoing monitoring procedure. Therefore, it is unclear what happened to the allegations.
Gallati does not rule out personal consequences
After the letter reached Gallati, he decided within a week to investigate the allegations. In an interview with “NZZ”, he promises a “relentless reassessment”. Gallati is not shy about considering personnel changes at the KSA, “if investigations bring to light management deficiencies.” It states that the complaints refer mainly to the operational level and are the responsibility of the board of directors and the hospital management. The KSA is an independent corporation. As a result, politics can only wield limited influence, says Gallati.
KSA could face tens of millions of dollars in lawsuits
Parallel to the supervision procedure, the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors (GPK) is also active in the KSA and Javier Fandino cases. According to the “NZZ”, the KSA risk manager Georg Sasse was at a committee meeting. The focus of discussion in the committee was on treatments with the substance 5-ALA, which makes tumors glow.
Fandino is accused of using the substance in patients with benign brain tumors. This despite the fact that several neurosurgeons have concluded that the use of 5-ALA only makes sense in the case of malignant tumors. According to “NZZ”, Fandino has used the substance in around 1,800 patients since 2007. The KSA was threatened with lawsuits amounting to tens of millions of francs if only some of the treated patients had to litigate. GPK President Marco Hardmeier (SP) said nothing about the “NZZ” investigation when asked by AZ.
In their letter, the two former KSA doctors not only raise accusations against Fandino, but also point to what they see as “abusive and arbitrary actions” by members of the management team. He writes that CEO Robert Rhiner and Chief Medical Officer Christoph Egger would create “a scary mood.”
There are also strategy mistakes made by the CEO or management. They are said to have halted the “very advanced project” of an eye clinic in Baden and made a “highly innovative initiative of a Strokemobil” impossible.
