In recent years, the Ebersberg district clinic has been financially dependent on the district as many intensive care patients are on the ventilator. As a shareholder, according to the articles of association, he is obliged to compensate for any operating losses of the hospital within five years. However, this will no longer be necessary at least until 2027, because the patient is now able to breathe independently again: in 2021, the clinic generated a surplus of more than 1.1 million euros. With this money, the losses from 2018 and 2019 can be fully compensated. Nevertheless, the Ebersberg hospital remains dependent on the district, especially since the hospital landscape is currently in a state of upheaval.
This was explained by the clinic’s managing director, Stefan Huber, at the most recent meeting of the district and strategy committee. “I can’t tell you how next year will go,” Huber said in the direction of the district councils. Above all, the increasing energy and material costs would cause problems for the hospital. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) had announced government support for the facilities, but: “We don’t know how much and when,” said Huber, who feared that most clinics would be in the red in the coming year.
The Ebersberg district clinic has long since stopped filling its 328 beds
In addition to the price increases, this is also due to another problem: inpatient treatment in the facilities is no longer in demand, instead patients increasingly want outpatient care. “We would also be able to get by with fewer beds at the moment,” said Stefan Huber, in whose house 328 inpatients can be cared for. But the managing director is skeptical that this number will actually be reached: “We will never be able to fully occupy the 328 beds again.” However, this is not an Ebersberg phenomenon, but can be observed throughout Germany. Huber is therefore certain: “There will be a decrease in beds and clinic closures.”
District Clinic Managing Director Stefan Huber fears a sharp decline in beds in the hospitals.
(Photo: Peter Hinz-Rosin)
To ensure that the Ebersberg hospital does not suffer the same fate, the managing director called for a significant increase in outpatient services. In order to be able to cope with this upheaval, the district clinic is dependent on the financial help of the district. At the beginning of the year, he had increased the amount for securing liquidity from ten to 14 million euros. For the additional four million euros, the district has to take out another cash loan. If the funds for the clinic are still not sufficient, they would also have to organize their own credit.
In any case, there will be no shortage of conversion and expansion projects in the coming years. For example, the new construction of the emergency room is on the agenda, which is to be financed, among other things, by a generous inheritance. The existing multi-storey car park also has to be increased and the elevators in the hospital have to be renewed. The district and the clinic will split the costs for all these millions of measures in a ratio of 80 to 20. Another major project is not yet in the concrete planning: a new heliport, which the district administration puts in an initial estimate at around four million euros. However, this should not be built before 2027.