Prison hospital in North Rhine-Westphalia becomes an academic teaching hospital of Witten/Herdecke University

Recognised as an academic teaching hospital, students can now complete their practical year in the fields of internal medicine and psychiatry at the prison hospital.

Minister Dr Limbach: "Good medical care for prisoners is an important contribution to the prison's goal of resocialisation. I am delighted that the successful cooperation with Witten/Herdecke University has brought prison medicine and the profession of prison doctor to the attention of students. In order to guarantee a high level of medical care in prisons in the future, it is crucial to recruit qualified young professionals. This naturally also applies to the nursing profession. Anyone interested in an exciting and varied job can apply to us at any time!"

Prof Dr Martin Butzlaff: "Many of our medical students are already taking the opportunity to complete their internship in the prison system. The fact that they can now do their practical year in this area and accompany the medical care of prisoners over a much longer period of time opens up completely new perspectives for them: they understand the importance of comprehensive healthcare across the breadth of society and gain insights into a field that most of them had no previous contact with."

The cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and Witten/Herdecke University has been in place since December 2022. Since then, medical students have familiarised themselves with prison medicine in seminars and lectures, but above all in general medical internships - clinical clerkships - in prisons and in the NRW prison hospital. This successful cooperation is now being intensified with the recognition as an academic teaching hospital.

About the North Rhine-Westphalia Prison Hospital in Fröndenberg

The North Rhine-Westphalia Prison Hospital was built between 1974 and 1979 as a municipal hospital in Fröndenberg and has been the only prison hospital in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia since 1986. It is an extended primary care hospital and has two operating theatres, an intensive treatment unit, examination and treatment rooms for the outpatient departments of the various disciplines, an X-ray department, a physical therapy department and a laboratory, which also supplies numerous prisons. The range of medical services in the prison hospital is rounded off by a comprehensive spectrum of attending and consultant doctors.

The total number of beds in the hospital area is 173, plus six beds in the intensive care unit. In 2024, around 1,900 patients were treated as inpatients and 5,800 as outpatients. With over 300 employees, the prison hospital is one of the largest employers in the town of Fröndenberg.