Berlin Charité expects a significant deficit in the million in health care this year
Berlin Charité expects a significant deficit in the million in health care this year
Berlin Charité expects several million euros deficit
Updated: 23.07.2023, 06:00 | Reading time: 5 minutes
The financially tense situation of many hospitals in Germany also affects the Berlin University Clinic Charité. After a balanced result in 2022, Charité CEO Heyo Kroemer expects a considerable deficit for 2023: "We assume a significant double-digit million amount," said Kroemer in an interview with the Berlin Morgenpost.
Despite the Corona pandemic, Germany's largest university medicine had generated an almost balanced result. This also succeeded because the state of Berlin had compensated for the Corona losses.hospitals cannot pass on increased costs to customers
How big the minus will be out this year cannot yet say, said Kroemer. At the beginning of the year, there were still high sick leave among the approximately 17,000 employees, and there were also strikes. But also "the service side and thus the revenues" had "so far not developed as we expected in relation to the level before the pandemic," said the Charité boss.
The financial needs of Berlin University Medicine also stand for most clinics in Germany. While restaurateurs, industrial companies or craftsmen could pass on increased costs to customers, hospitals were among the "few major businesses who cannot increase their prices," said Kroemer.
Because of the lack of personnel, up to 15 percent of the capacities are still, revenues are missing
The pricing over the flat rates always run for about a year and a half. "At the moment we will be reimbursed costs that are based on the tariff increase of the countries before inflation. This is currently under pressure all hospitals under pressure because they have low opportunities to adapt to the changed conditions. Therefore, the economic situation in the area of inpatient care is very difficult," said the Charité CEO.
The hospitals also brought fewer benefits and corresponded to less money from the health insurance companies for patient treatment than before Corona. Ten to 15 percent of the supply capacities are not on average on average, said Kroemer, all of them had fewer cases, including the Charité. "This is due to the difficulty of getting enough staff, especially in nursing. Also due to the relief tariff contract and the guidelines on how many employees per bed can be used, it is completely clear that we can do less with the same personnel than in 2019," said the pharmacologist, who has been running the Charité since September 2019.
Charité boss Kroemer explains reform needs with the lack of skilled workers
As the advisor of the Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD), Kroemer is also one of the heads behind the planned hospital reform. He was sitting in the expert commission, which had presented the first concept for the reorganization of the German hospital landscape at the beginning of the year. Kroemer also called the lack of specialists as an essential drive spring for the controversial reform.
Especially small, less specialized clinics in the country will find it more and more difficult to gain personnel in view of the demographic development. "If these houses are not very specialized, such small hospitals will no longer be economically leading. If there is no reform, the current system has no future," predicted the clinic manager.
hospital companies are demanding protection against insolvent
The German hospital society assumes that at least 60 percent of hospitals are currently writing red numbers and demands protection against bankruptcies from the state. The head of the Berlin hospital company Marc Schreiner also warns that an uncontrolled bankruptcy wave could occur if the federal and state governments do not quickly refer additional sums to the houses.
However,Charité boss and Lauterbach consultant Kroemer braked corresponding expectations. In the course of the hospital reform on the way, "this and next year will probably be financially nothing". The new remuneration structure with stronger payments for the provision of treatment options and less importance for the actually cared for patients about the flat rates should only apply with a time delay.
Charité boss Kroemer does not see any remedy during the reform process
"That is why we have to expect the extreme financial problem in the next two years. In this respect, there will be acute financial problems in the hospital sector," said Kroemer.
Background for this restraint is exactly the upcoming cleaning process among hospitals and the expected new sorting of services between the houses. Politicians apparently want to avoid pumping money into exactly such structures that you no longer want to have in the long term.