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European Union of Private Hospitals

Prevent uncontrolled clinic closures

Commenting on the nationwide protest day of the German Hospital Association on 21 September 2023, Thomas Bublitz, General Manager of the Federal Association of German Private Hospitals (Bundesverband Deutscher Privatkliniken e.V. – BDPK), said: “Due to chronic underfunding, for which politicians are responsible, numerous hospitals have already been forced into insolvency. The uncontrolled hospital closures lead to painful bottlenecks in care for patients and jobs are lost.”

The BDPK, which represents the interests of more than 1,300 hospitals and rehabilitation/preventive care facilities in private ownership, has therefore joined the nationwide protest of German hospitals and, in addition to an immediate aid programme, demands reliable and sustainable financing that offers long-term security to the clinics, the hospital owners, the employees and the patients.

“Politicians apparently assume that the current crisis will be solved with the planned hospital reform. But this is not true! The reform plans will not change the financial plight of many hospitals,” says Thomas Bublitz. In addition to the day of action, the BDPK has therefore launched the “Krankenhausretten.de” campaign to draw attention to serious shortcomings in the content of the reform proposal. The BDPK warns that the reform in its current version will lead to the closure of many smaller, efficient hospitals in need. This is especially true in rural areas, where patients are threatened with long distances to basic medical care and longer waiting times in the remaining hospitals. In addition, the BDPK complains that the reform, which is to come into force at the beginning of 2024, can at best unfold its intended effect with a delay of several years, which is far too late for most clinics. The BDPK is therefore calling for integrated regional care planning from politicians in addition to immediate financial aid. This would have to take into account not only inpatient care, but also outpatient medical care, transitional care and rehabilitation. This would be a gain for patients and the ideal introduction to the health regions agreed upon in the coalition agreement of the traffic light government.

Press release published on the BDPK website on 20.09.2023