In a fire letter to Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), the Bavarian districts warn of drastic deficits and the closure of clinics in view of the federal hospital reform – but also call on the Free State to act.
“More and more districts in Bavaria are reaching the limits of their performance because of the assumption of sometimes horrendous operating cost deficits in their hospitals,” says the letter from District Council President Thomas Karmasin (CSU) to Söder. “An associated threat of closure of hospital locations would be associated with a cold structural change, which would particularly endanger emergency medical care for people in rural areas.”
Söder must therefore pay special attention to the implementation of the hospital reform in Bavaria, demands the district council. According to the letter to Söder, it is not enough to demand that the federal government respect the hospital planning competence of the states. “This planning competence must also be actively exercised towards hospitals and their sponsors in their own country.” Karmasin warns: “We can no longer wait for developments at the federal level. We must now begin to actively set the course in Bavaria for sustainable medical care, especially in rural areas.”
“The states and the federal government have fallen out so much that nothing can move forward,” Karmasin told the German Press Agency. This blockage is currently leading to a monthly loss of revenue of 500 million euros across Germany. “Normally it would make sense to wait until the framework conditions have been clarified by the federal government. But we cannot wait for that here because many clinics will not live to see the end of the Federal Health Minister’s considerations,” warned Karmasin. “We in Bavaria cannot wait until the federal government has everything dry.” The Free State’s hospital planning is now needed – this must be “reorganized,” demanded the district council president.