About Us
Guiding Principle on Medical Ethics:
›NOT BECAUSE IT IS DIFFICULT DO WE NOT DARE,
BUT BECAUSE WE DO NOT DARE,
IT IS DIFFICULT.‹ SOCRATES
The 11 Pillars of ATOMOS Philosophy
LIFE
›To think what is true, to feel what is beautiful, and to will what is good. Herein lies the spirit of a reasonable life.‹
PLATON
ATOMOS — THE INDIVISIBLE ONE.
ATOMOS Clinics strive to reunite the segmented aspects of medicine into a whole and complete entity, finding a suitable place for each area without excluding anything.
Life itself is understood similarly: joy and seriousness, planning and surprise, the colorfulness of individuality and unity in community, reason and intuition, functionality and creativity, as well as predictability and fate. Recognizing these facets of life as interrelated is considered desirable, and it is within this comprehension that one can find the meaning of one’s own life, making such discovery fulfilling.
›Life is the fundamental fact
that must form the starting point of philosophy.
It is the internally known; it is that
which cannot be further reduced.‹
WILHELM DILTHEY
BEING BORN & DYING
›Living happily and living naturally are one and the same.‹
LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA
We perceive being born and dying as the natural endpoints of life. Thus also serving as the cornerstones of medicine, though we do not consider either as a disease process. They frame every human life, making them pure expressions of it. Accordingly, just as with life itself: anyone in need of help, feeling lost, experiencing discomfort during these phases, or facing the risk of natural processes being stalled, interrupted, or slipping away, will find supportive assistance from medicine.
The aim is always clear: to facilitate a good birth and a dignified good death.
THE HUMAN BEING
›The whole is more than the sum of its parts.‹
ARISTOTLE
Body, soul, and spirit define him. He is the one who carries life through time with his body. Equipped thus, he endures his fate with dignity, which distinguishes humans and remains inviolable throughout their life. His journey is a recurring encounter and engagement with illness and health. Surrounded by options and opportunities, he remains autonomous and free to make decisions for his life and well-being, in accordance with his goals. We consider freedom to be humanity’s greatest good.
THE PATIENT
He is the person who finds himself in any form of suffering. As such, he requires help, yet he always remains human. Illness may have struck him, but his dignity as a person remains intact. Thus, he is the one who possesses the freedom to decide whether and how he wishes to heal, and also when he can proclaim for himself, ›I am healthy‹.
THE DOCTOR AND HIS TEAM
The medical team should primarily integrate three roles in their work:
1. The Therapist: As a practitioner in terms of implementing, training, explaining, or prescribing treatments on a mental, psychosocial, or physical level.
2. The Advisor: As one who has accumulated knowledge and experience regarding the consequences, possibilities, and risks of certain actions, diseases, and treatments within their profession and provides this advice to the patient, tailored to their individual situation and desires.
3. The Companion: As a confidant who, if the patient wishes, accompanies them regardless of whether they accept the treatment or advice, standing by them even in difficult life situations through their presence, expertise, or personal support.
Above all, each member of the ATOMOS Clinics commits to the honorable promise of dedicating their life and abilities to humanity (see the Geneva Declaration of the World Medical Association, 2017).
Thus, every member of ATOMOS Clinics understands treating, advising, and accompanying in a manner worthy of humanity and in accordance with the philosophy of ATOMOS Clinics as the profound purpose of their calling.
HEALTH
We understand health as ›a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity‹ (see WHO definition). Thus, it always remains a subjective assessment that lies with the individual being discussed.
A person perceives themselves as healthy as long as no ailment exceeds a certain threshold. This sense of health seems to be lost at times due to illness, an impairment of well-being, or even due to the diagnosis and prognosis themselves, which can dampen the feeling of life and joy. However, what is lost, we believe, can fundamentally be rediscovered. Therefore, we adhere to the principle ›Healthy is the person who has learned to live with their illness‹ MANFRED LÜTZ.
ILLNESS
Illness is the absence of health. The fact that something which once functioned falls out of order at another time, no longer following its original and familiar laws, is named and described by us with our own terms, diagnoses. Names and descriptions inherently carry a latent invitation throughout life to get to know and understand them. Mere enmity and declaration of war against illness are possible, but not comprehensively helpful.
Viewing a diagnosis and, thus, illness itself as a kind of ‘lesson’ of life, as an experience that imparts meaning, could transform the initially hostile attack into a tolerable, perhaps even enriching, life experience. In any case, encountering illness as an experience and part of existence is evidently part of human existence. Yet, a person themselves never becomes the illness. Hence, from the perspective of ATOMOS Clinics, there can never be a ‘never being healthy again’.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PATIENT AND DOCTOR
A successful encounter between doctor and patient is based on mutual understanding and trust. Firstly, the doctor must listen to and understand the patient’s concerns and symptoms to initiate the correct examination leading to a diagnosis. Subsequently, the patient must be able to follow the doctor’s explanations and findings to grasp the conclusions drawn from the observations. Finally, there must be a mutual recognition of the necessity, the process, and the goal of the therapy. Only then can we speak of a successful relationship between patient and doctor.
THERAPY
True to its etymology, therapy should always serve the patient’s benefit. Thus, therapist and patient must always reach mutual agreement on the correctness and suitability of the therapy. The type of therapy deemed appropriate is always decided by the trusting and coordinated community comprising the patient and doctor. ATOMOS Clinics recognize all forms of therapy, whether medicinal, surgical, psychotherapeutic, complementary, etc., as potentially effective based on scientific evidence, traditional experiences, or the patient’s desires, and consider them fundamentally valuable, helpful, and equally valid. The right therapy for an individual case always depends on the situation and, most importantly, on the person being treated. And for some, ›sometimes prescribing nothing at all can be an excellent therapy‹ HIPPOCRATES.
MEDICINE AND ECONOMY
The aim of ATOMOS Clinics is to meaningfully integrate these two aspects, prioritizing the patient’s welfare above all economics can assist and contribute to maintaining the medical routine and its resources. However, it should never lead to deviating from the declared ideal of good medicine due to financial optimizations.
THE LIMITS OF REASON
This aspect of our philosophy is both a sign of humility towards the world and life, and a testament to trust in human nature. We are convinced that within every person lies an entity capable of making better decisions in the moment of testing, when a system faces crisis and threatens to fail, about what is right and good in that individual case, than any theoretically conceived system could. Whether this entity is called ‘intuition,’ ‘gut feeling,’ or even the ‘sixth sense,’ a rational system then has the opportunity to transcend its own limitations by placing trust in humanity over the last vestige of imponderability.
Clinic Management
FOUNDERS AND OPERATORS
The Valach family, along with Mag. Erwin Krause, laid the foundation for the development, management, and daily operation of health facilities since 2019.
ANGELA
VALACH
DR. MED.
FLORIAN VALACH
DR. MED.
CHRISTOPH VALACH
MAG. ERWIN
KRAUSE
GENERAL MANAGEMENT
The business management of ATOMOS Klinik Währing is led by Dr. med. Florian Valach. As a founder and co-founder of the ATOMOS Clinics and their subsidiaries, he carries the mission, vision, and corporate philosophy to the new location and is jointly responsible with all founders for the consistent adherence to the medical concept and strategic orientation.
DR. MED.
FLORIAN VALACH
COLLEGIAL LEADERSHIP
Medical Direction
DR. MED. FELIX REIMER
f.reimer@ak-waehring.at
Deputy Medical Direction
DR. MED. CLAUDIA GSCHNITZER
ordination@ak-waehring.at
Nursing Direction
DGKP ELENA AFANASSIEVA, MBA
T + 43 1 261 66-777
pflegedirektion@ak-waehring.at
Deputy Nursing Direction
DGKP MAJA ZÜRCHER
T + 43 1 261 66-777
pflegedirektion@ak-waehring.at
Administrative Management
MAG. CHRISTINA KUSCHINSKY, MBA
T + 43 1 261 66-696
verwaltung@ak-waehring.at
Deputy Administrative Management
MELANIE MABERG
T + 43 1 261 66-2222
ordination@ak-waehring.at
Ethics
›THE ESSENCE OF GOOD IS: TO PRESERVE LIFE, TO PROMOTE LIFE, TO BRING LIFE TO ITS HIGHEST VALUE. THE ESSENCE OF EVIL IS: TO DESTROY LIFE, TO HARM LIFE, TO HINDER THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIFE. THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF ETHICS IS THEREFORE THE REFERENCE FOR LIFE.‹ ALBERT SCHWEITZER
In an ATOMOS Clinic, ethics should be discernible in everyday clinical practice.
ETHICS OFFICER
Prof. Karl-Heinz Wehkamp, a medical ethicist, sociologist, specialist in gynecology and obstetrics, as well as a psychotherapist, advises the management on all ethical matters. He is not an employee of the company, ensuring he can maintain a neutral position. Furthermore, he is a member of the advisory board of AescuLAB e.V. A non-profit association founded in 2021 by ATOMOS Clinics GmbH to promote ethical principles and discourses in practice.
PROF. KARL-HEINZ WEHKAMP