INTERVIEW

It was a difficult journey for André Zemp, President of the Zurich University Hospital for five years. At times his voice threatened to break when he presented the results of an independent investigation report on the cardiac surgery clinic to the media on Tuesday: the unvarnished assessment of years of failure at all levels. This was after the hospital had previously always downplayed the case.

Mr Zemp, how can a patient ever go to the university hospital with confidence again after this shocking report?

Patient well-being is always our priority, I assure you. Unfortunately, we have to acknowledge that things were different at times in the cardiac surgery clinic. I understand that trust was shaken by the events, but today the situation is completely different. The numbers and facts also show this.

How could this extraordinary undesirable development come about?

I wasn’t there at the time. Unfortunately, we discovered that there was a blatant failure of leadership at the time, both at the level of the hospital council and the hospital management. In addition, the then director lacked the qualifications to manage a cardiac surgery clinic and there were economic conflicts of interest.

In this case there is a pattern that repeats itself: first the hospital officials looked the other way, then they downplayed the matter. Only when public pressure became too great – be it from whistleblowers, the media or politicians – did they react. Why?

There was obviously a completely different culture at the university hospital. In 2020, at the request of the Health Directorate, the hospital council said several times that the patient’s well-being was not at risk and that no precautions needed to be taken. That was simply wrong. Today we talk openly about problems here – and communicate them when necessary.

You were already in office in April 2024. When former clinic director Paul Vogt said publicly that it was a lie that no patients had been harmed under his predecessor, the hospital initially saw no reason to investigate. Instead, it referred to old test results that there was never any risk to patients.

I have to disagree. Professor Vogt said in mid-April that there had been too many deaths. At the beginning of May we announced that we really wanted to work on the story.

That was almost three weeks later, and only after the cantonal parliament had called for an investigation. Vogt also says that he has been pointing out the grievances internally for a long time.

Now this is a bit subtle. The hospital council is a collective, we had to discuss it first. The fact is: we reacted and had everything comprehensively examined.

Is this reflex of not communicating errors inherent in the system, because otherwise the hospital system opens the door to demands from patients?

No, that would be the wrong approach. Mistakes always happen, that’s just how it is. You have to establish a culture that allows you to talk about it. What matters is how you deal with it. The change that we have initiated with our new CEO Monika Jänicke is already making itself felt. Staff at all hierarchical levels and from all professional groups take part and report if, for example, internal guidelines have been violated.

It’s not as if the incidents at the cardiac surgery clinic in recent years have never been investigated. But they all came to a different conclusion than the current report: no one was hurt. How do you explain this to a public that has become suspicious?

In the past, individual cases have been investigated, but never such a comprehensive investigation. For example, it was also said that the mortality figures could not be compared because the cases treated at the university hospital were particularly severe. This time the numbers were compared at great expense – and found that even then they were still too high.

What can the victims and their relatives specifically expect from the hospital?

We are looking to talk to you. We have founded an information and advice center that you can contact to find an individual solution.

The hospital reported two dozen cases itself or reported them to the public prosecutor. But some of these could already have expired due to the long inaction of the hospital management. How do you deal with it when crimes go unpunished as a result?

We certainly have a moral responsibility. And the question arises as to how to deal with affected patients and their relatives. We have therefore set up an advisory board to deal with such cases.