Funerals Cantonal hospital and mortician agree "Code of Cooperation"

Aarau Cantonal Hospital (KSA) and 17 funeral directors have signed a "Code of Good Cooperation". The KSA is now setting up a reporting office to which relatives or morticians can turn in the event of problems, as the canton announced on Monday.

Relatives of the deceased are free to choose a funeral home, according to the Department of Health and Social Affairs (DGS). Cantonal hospitals, municipalities, private clinics and nursing homes with public service contracts are not permitted to give preference to or recommend individual funeral directors for constitutional reasons.

In 2003, the Commercial Court of the Canton of Aargau declared an exclusive contract between the KSA and a funeral home in Aarau null and void, as can be seen from the Government Council's 2019 response to an interpellation on the subject in the Grand Council. The petitioner was the then Grand Councillor Jean-Pierre Gallati (SVP), now head of the Department of Health as a member of the cantonal government.

Following various complaints from morticians who felt they had been treated unfairly by the KSA in recent years, a code has now been agreed to which most funeral directors in Aargau have signed up, as the DGS writes.

No recommendations allowed

It is important to everyone involved that grieving relatives receive competent support from hospital staff. However, all funeral homes must be treated equally and it is not permitted to make recommendations. The KSA ensures this within the framework of internal directives and will set up a reporting office for complaints from funeral directors and relatives.

The DGS has also informed all municipal councils, hospitals and care homes in the canton of the principle of equal treatment and has made a list of all known morticians in the canton of Aargau available on its website.

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