As a lesson from the corona pandemic, the public health service is to be expanded nationwide – the Free State has so far met the requirements for creating new jobs. “Our goal was to create at least 237 new full-time positions in Bavaria in 2021 in a first step,” explained Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU). “In fact, 403 new and permanent full-time positions had been created and filled in the Bavarian health administration by the end of the year, 258 of them in the state and municipal health authorities alone.”
During the pandemic, clear deficits had become apparent in Bavaria too, after the health authorities had often not kept up with the follow-up of contacts and had sent quarantine orders with a long delay or not at all. The federal and state governments therefore decided in September 2020 on a pact for the public health service in order to increase the staffing of the health departments throughout Germany, to modernize them and to network them. The federal government is making four billion euros available for implementation by 2026. In return, the federal states should create and fill at least 1,500 new, permanent full-time positions for doctors, other specialist staff and administrative staff in the public health authorities by December 31, 2021. In a further step, at least another 3,500 full-time positions, which can also be divided between several part-time employees, are to be created by the end of 2022. 553 of these are in Bavaria.
In order to make the post attractive, the state government has raised the salary of more than a quarter of the medical posts and has also introduced the possibility of supplements. There are currently 2500 positions in the public health service of the district offices and governments, the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) and the five cities with their own municipal health offices. The ministry assumes around five percent vacant positions, as a ministry spokeswoman explained. In addition to the permanent positions, the health authorities in the pandemic are being supported by additional staff in tracking contacts. As of January 3, this staff comprised more than 5,400 people, the spokeswoman said.