
Johannes Steinhart, President of the Vienna Medical Association, has announced that he has been fully exonerated in the Equip4Ordi (E4O) procurement platform scandal. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Steinhart revealed that the public prosecutor had dropped all investigations against him, and he is no longer considered a suspect. “The allegations are off the table,” he stated, expressing relief that the internal conflicts within the association had been resolved. “We can now return to being a fully functioning Medical Association.”
Steinhart had faced serious accusations from his critics, including breach of trust, favoritism, defamation, and fraud. “Now, all of that has been proven baseless,” Steinhart said. However, the Vienna public prosecutor’s office has yet to confirm this information, according to inquiries made by the Austrian Press Agency (APA). Steinhart described the ordeal as challenging, compounded by a serious personal health crisis he was dealing with at the same time.
The scandal first came to light last year when irregularities involving the E4O procurement platform surfaced. The company, which was meant to supply medical equipment at low cost, was under the control of the Curia of General Practitioners while Steinhart was its chairman. Controversies arose regarding loans and bonus payments, leading Steinhart’s successor, Erik Huber, to take action. This resulted in criminal complaints, investigations involving up to eleven individuals, and internal disputes that escalated to accusations of physical altercations during board meetings. An attempt to pass a vote of no confidence against Steinhart failed, but Huber and another prominent opponent, Stefan Ferenci, eventually resigned from their positions earlier this year.
Following a board meeting on Tuesday, the ÖVP-affiliated president now sees the association back on track. Steinhart said he has found common ground with his predecessor, social democrat Thomas Szekeres, and reported a “constructive collaboration” within the Medical Association. He also mentioned that his relationship with Karl Forstner, the president of the Salzburg Medical Association and the only regional head to call for Steinhart’s resignation publicly, has improved.
Looking ahead, Steinhart stressed that the Medical Association has learned from the episode. “The association will adopt a stricter compliance strategy going forward,” he said. However, he downplayed the severity of the issues with Equip4Ordi, suggesting that the problems escalated because “someone set fire to it.” When asked about the financial losses resulting from E4O and the ensuing legal battles, Steinhart could not provide specific figures. A newly established commission, approved during Tuesday’s meeting, will now investigate the matter.