Wave of hospital bankruptcies in Germany

“We are currently seeing more defaults than usual and 2024 risks being a record year for defaults,” DKG Chairman Gerald Gass warned, as quoted by the Aussiedlerbote newspaper.

The national health system is seriously lacking in health care practitioners. Photo: EXCEL MEDICAL

The German Hospital Federation (DKG) warned that the situation of hospitals in the country is more serious than ever as the number of bankruptcies is expected to peak in 2024. According to the survey results released by the German Hospital Institute (DKI) on December 27, about 80% of hospitals in the country are forecast to record negative results this year and most are concerned that the economic situation will continue to worsen next year.

After nearly 40 bankruptcies in 2023, the number of hospitals filing for bankruptcy could double due to the foreseeable sharp increase in staff costs. Hardly any hospital currently has enough income to cover its expenses. Add to that the fact that hospitals have not been given investment funding for decades. In addition, German hospitals are not allowed to adjust prices autonomously while being subject to inflationary pressures like other sectors of the economy. This imbalance is increasingly leading to insolvency and bankruptcy. DKG Chairman Gerald Gass warned that German hospitals will be short €10 billion ($11 billion) by the end of this year.

The main points of the hospital reform plan were agreed in July this year. The German Ministry of Health (BMG) and relevant units are currently discussing these contents in detail.

The warning comes as thousands of clinics across Germany will close in the week between Christmas and New Year 2024 due to a strike by doctors protesting overwork and a severe shortage of healthcare professionals in the national health system. A new study recently published by PwC (Germany) shows that by 2035, Germany could be short of up to 1.8 million skilled medical professionals. Meanwhile, many doctors are now thinking about changing careers, with only about 30% of doctors surveyed saying they would be able to maintain their jobs until retirement age.

HAPPINESS

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/lan-song-vo-no-benh-vien-o-duc-post720330.html