Thuringia’s hospital structure depends largely on federal decisions. If they don’t fall, there is a risk of closures, says Health Minister Heike Werner.
Erfurt (dpa/th) – According to Thuringia’s Health Minister Heike Werner (left), the reform of hospital financing planned by the federal government will have a significant impact on the Free State. What the hospital structure in the country will look like in the next few years depends largely on this reform, Werner said on Friday in Erfurt. “You mustn’t fail, you have to say that.”
If the plans of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) cannot be implemented, this will lead to a “cold structural adjustment” in the clinics in Thuringia. Some hospitals would then have to close uncontrolled. “That would be catastrophic for medical care in Thuringia.”
In particular, Lauterbach’s plans envisage that the services of the clinics in Germany will no longer be financed by so-called flat rates per case, as is currently the case. Within this system, the clinics receive a flat fee for each patient or treatment case. According to Lauterbach, this means that clinics treat as many people as possible and as cheaply as possible. Instead, hospitals are to be financed in the future as well as so-called provision services. Payments for providing an emergency room or medical technology, for example.
According to Lauterbach, this restructuring should not only improve the quality of patient care. This should also alleviate the economic difficulties of the houses.
Werner was satisfied with the previous discussions in Thuringia about the future hospital structure in the state, which is to be laid down in the eighth state hospital plan. Everyone involved in these debates was critical but also open to one another, she said. However, it is clear that at the end of the planning process, political decisions would also have to be made, for example about which hospital should offer which services in the future. “I’ve always made it clear that I see it as my job,” said Werner.
Since September there have been four workshops on further hospital planning in Thuringia, which were attended by representatives of health insurance companies, hospitals and patients. A final workshop is planned for Monday. The eighth Thuringian hospital plan is to be adopted in 2024.
