| (GZ-8-2023) |
► Municipal companies of the district of Würzburg: |
Around 200 invited guests celebrated the 25th anniversary of the municipal company of the district of Würzburg (KU). At the ceremony, District Administrator Thomas Eberth said that the municipal company’s model for success was a “Bavarian invention”. According to the municipal state secretary Sandro Kirchner, MdL, the KU stands for 25 years of successful company history as well as effective and versatile fulfillment of municipal tasks.
The municipal company of the district of Würzburg was founded in 1998 with the approval of the district council. Activities of general interest that require entrepreneurial action were thus outsourced from the official district administration: first the district hospital in Ochsenfurt, today’s Main Clinic, two nursing homes in Würzburg and Aub as well as local public transport. Since then, the activities of the KU have been steadily expanded: Today, the KU also operates a medical care center at the Main Clinic, runs eight senior citizens’ facilities with serviced apartments and is responsible for waste management. In addition, the KU is commercially responsible for the water supply in the western district of Würzburg.
In Kirchner’s words, “the KU has decisively shaped the services of general interest in the district and is a successful model that pays off”. Bavaria was the first non-city state to allow its municipalities to set up public law institutions. With the introduction of municipal companies, an important milestone was set for municipal self-government. The more than 260 municipal companies in Bavaria are characterized by their independent, flexible action and short decision-making processes.
Almost 1,400 employees
The municipal company of the district of Würzburg has a wide range of tasks, explained Kirchner. “The diversity and range of tasks show the great trust that the district has in its municipal company, in its management and in the employees,” said the Secretary of State in recognition of the work of the almost 1,400 employees. This makes the KU one of the largest employers in the region.
Inextricably linked to the history and development of the KU is Prof. Dr. Alexander Schraml. He has been at the head of the KU since the day it was founded – initially together with Dr. Joachim Riedmayer, from 2005 as sole director. Since 2020, Schraml has managed the KU together with his board colleague Eva von Vietinghoff-Scheel. At the end of March 2023 he gave up his position on the board.
As Schraml explained at the ceremony, the KU is well prepared for the current and future challenges. At the Main Clinic, the newly founded nursing school – a guarantee for recruiting urgently needed new nursing staff – could move to its own premises in the foreseeable future. In Waldbrunn, a KU-owned MVZ for general medical care is currently being created, a “prototype for all of Bavaria”, and in the new center of Uettingen the new building of the senior citizens’ center is imminent. According to Schraml, all of these are examples of how the KU is constantly changing, keeping pace with the times and serving the region.
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