Erfurt (dpa/th) – The Barmer health insurance company advocates a structural fund for the hospitals in Thuringia financed from state funds. With the help of such a fund, modern clinic care structures should be developed, the health insurance fund announced on Wednesday. From their point of view, this includes the bundling of certain medical services that can be planned in clinics, regional health centers for care in rural areas and the expansion of telemedicine. According to the insurer, it is not the number of beds that is decisive for hospital planning, in which the locations of clinics and departments are determined, but rather certain quality requirements.
A clinic structure fund would have to go financially beyond the state’s current investment subsidy for hospitals, which most recently amounted to around 60 million euros a year. From the point of view of the cash register, this is not enough anyway, they assume a need of at least 150 million euros per year. “A structural fund should go beyond that,” said a Barmer spokesman.
There are around 40 hospitals in Thuringia. Work is currently underway in Thuringia on a new hospital plan. Health Minister Heike Werner (left) recently announced that the decision on this is expected to be made in the second quarter of 2024.
