Every sixth hospital under the aegis of the German Red Cross (DRK) is insolvent, said DRK President Gerda Hasselfeldt to the “New Osnabrück Times” (Tuesday edition).
Five locations in Rhineland-Palatinate and one in Hesse are affected. The DRK operates a total of 38 hospitals. “Even at other institutions, the financial situation is very difficult” Hasselfeldt told the NOZ further. Moreover, a hospital had to be closed in both Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg last year.
Hasselfeldt criticized the lack of a sufficient financial transition regulation in the hospital reform. “Not even cost increases due to inflation are covered” said the DRK chief. She feared that in the coming years, many more hospitals run by non-profit organizations like the DRK will slide into insolvency.
“It is precisely the hospitals that are strictly community-oriented that are at risk of being the first to go out of business” she said. Because the non-profit operators have to use surpluses directly and only form limited reserves, while private and municipal operators have more security.