A nurse enters a separate area for Covid-19 patients in an intensive care unit at the Stuttgart Clinic.
Image: dpa
Almost 60 percent of the clinics in Germany are expecting losses this year. The German Hospital Society warns of a “wave of bankruptcies” that will worsen medical care in many places.
DAccording to estimates by the German Hospital Society (DKG), Germany’s clinics will be hit by a wave of bankruptcies in the coming year. “In 2023, our clinics will be hit by a wave of insolvencies that can hardly be stopped,” said association leader Gerald Gass to the editorial network Germany according to the preliminary report. The damage to medical care will become visible in many regions in 2023.
Gass referred to the current hospital barometer of the German Hospital Institute (DKI), an annual representative survey of general hospitals in Germany, from which the RND media group reports. According to this, 59 percent of the clinics expect to be in the red in 2022. In 2021, this proportion was still 43 percent. According to the survey, the proportion of hospitals with a positive annual result will more than halve, from 44 to an expected 20 percent. About every fifth hospital (21 percent) assumes a balanced result for 2022. Their share was still 13 percent in 2021.
Expectations for the coming year also look bleak: More than half of the hospitals (56 percent) expect the economic situation to deteriorate further in 2023, while only 17 percent of hospitals expect an improvement. 27 percent of the clinics assume that the situation will remain unchanged. “Corona and the recent increase in respiratory diseases have shown that we need a strong hospital system and nationwide care,” said Gass. “We can no longer afford any more surprising closures.”
