Five years after the COVID-19 outbreak, most hospitals in Germany consider themselves better prepared for a new pandemic, according to a hospital survey conducted by the German Hospital Institute (DKI). The survey, reported by the “Rheinische Post”on Saturday, found that 97 percent of German hospitals believe they are better prepared for a pandemic today than in the spring of 2020. The main reasons cited were the lessons learned from practical experience (96 percent), pandemic emergency plans (88 percent) and better coordination with other hospitals and authorities (70 percent).
However, many hospitals still face significant challenges. According to the study, more than half of the participating hospitals (53 percent) lack the necessary resources and capacities to be well prepared for a new pandemic. The main reasons for this include a lack of financial resources and personnel, as well as supply chain disruptions and physical limitations that prevent the construction of additional isolation rooms.
The majority of respondents (69 percent) believe that the hospital care in Germany is not adequately prepared for a next pandemic. The head of the German Hospital Association (DKG), Gerald Gaß, criticized the government’s response, stating, “The politics has hardly learned from the five years of pandemic.”He pointed to examples such as the lack of a national emergency reserve and the dependence on Chinese mask production.
Gerald Gaß is concerned that “masks and other protective equipment are still almost exclusively produced in China, which in an emergency will of course restrict exports again. And not least, many hospitals, especially in rural areas, will fall away in the coming years, which were indispensable in the context of the Corona cooperation.”He holds the Federal Minister of Health responsible for this, stating that the hospital reform initiated by Minister Lauterbach has not addressed the question of crisis preparedness for a new pandemic or a defense emergency.
The survey, which involved 234 general hospitals with over 100 beds across the country in mid-January 2025, also found a positive side effect: nearly half of the respondents reported that the pandemic had triggered a digitalization boost in their hospitals, such as the use of telemedicine, in a very (11 percent) or quite (35 percent) lasting manner.