Staff change at Hirslanden eastern Switzerland

Andrea Rütsche has headed up the Stephanshorn Clinic in St. Gallen since 2010. In addition, in November 2019 she took over management of the Am Rosenberg Clinic in Heiden. Previously Andrea Rütsche had worked for 15 years at the Am Rosenberg Clinic in various functions, latterly as Deputy Director.

Under Andrea Rütsche’s leadership the Stephanshorn Clinic developed from a specialist clinic to a large inpatient and outpatient Hirslanden Clinic including intensive and emergency care. Important milestones in the development of the clinic were the opening of the first outpatient health centre and the emergency unit in 2013. The same year also saw the opening of the intensive care unit and the certification of the breast centre by the Swiss Cancer League. In 2015 the clinic expanded with a newly built bed wing with 24 beds. And in the following year the commissioning of two new operating theatres enabled the development of specialised and highly specialised medicine in areas such as abdominal surgery, urology and spinal surgery, which have today gained a reputation well beyond the borders of the canton. Further milestones were the opening of the medical centre in 2018 and the opening of the outpatient operating centre OPERA St. Gallen in the Schuppis neighbourhood in 2020. Moreover in June 2022 a comprehensive outpatient service opened its doors in the Neudorf Centre, where apart from numerous doctor’s surgeries, a radiological diagnostics unit and outpatient radiotherapy are provided. Together with the transfer of the Stephanshorn and Am Rosenberg Clinics under joint management as well as numerous cooperation projects with various partners, an intercantonal interdisciplinary medical network came into being under Andrea Rütsche’s direction, providing the population of eastern Switzerland with a comprehensive range of healthcare and treatments. Under Andrea Rütsche’s leadership the Stephanshorn Clinic has established itself as one of the major employers in the region, practically doubling the number of its staff: today the clinic has over 600 employees. In 2018 the clinic was awarded the label ‘Friendly Work Space‘ by Health Promotion Switzerland.

‘‘I am very sorry that Andrea Rütsche is leaving us. I would like to express my sincere thanks for her long-standing great commitment and numerous achievements in the development of our Hirslanden healthcare region of eastern Switzerland, which today can be rightly characterised as a prime example of integrated healthcare through its wide range of services across the whole care and treatment spectrum. Andrea Rütsche has steered this development with a steady hand in an increasingly demanding regulatory and economic environment while always putting patients, staff and the medical fraternity alike in the centre of her preoccupations‘‘, says Daniel Liedtke, CEO of the Hirslanden Group.

The management of the Hirslanden Group thanks Andrea Rütsche for her long-standing commitment as Director of the Stephanshorn und Am Rosenberg Hirslanden clinics, and wishes her all the best for the future. The search for Andrea Rütsche’s successor has already begun. In the meantime Rolf Gilgen will take over the direction of both clinics as of 1 May 2022. The 63-yera-old lawyer is an experienced hospital manager who is very familiar with the Swiss healthcare sector. Among other functions, he was Director of the Waid City Hospital for 15 years, and CEO of Spital Bülach AG for 7 years.