Photo taken on November 25, 2021 shows an entrance to the Charité university hospital in Berlin, Germany. (Xinhua/Shan Yuqi)
According to an annual survey conducted by the German Hospital Institute (DKI), only 6% of hospitals in the most populous country in the European Union (EU) consider their current economic situation to be “good”.
BERLIN, Dec. 27 (XINHUA) — The German healthcare sector could face a wave of insolvencies in 2023, the German Hospital Association (DKG) warned on Tuesday.
“The damage to the healthcare system will be visible in many regions. The wave of insolvencies predicted several months ago is coming,” DKG chairman Gerald Gass said in a statement.
A doctor wearing a protective suit works at the university hospital in Essen, Germany, April 9, 2020. (Xinhua/Ulrich Hufnagel)
According to an annual survey conducted by the German Hospital Institute (DKI), only 6% of hospitals in the most populous country in the European Union (EU) consider their current economic situation to be “good”.
Meanwhile, more than one in two hospitals expect their economic situation to deteriorate further in 2023, according to the survey.
“The personnel situation in hospitals, especially in the nursing sector, continues to be worrying,” said the DKG. By mid-2022, nearly 90 percent of German hospitals were struggling to fill general ward nursing vacancies.
A health worker receives a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the university hospital in Essen, Germany, Jan. 18, 2021. (Xinhua/Tang Ying)
Financing hospital investments through public subsidies “is no longer sufficient to meet the challenges of the future in many hospitals”, DKG stressed, adding that half of the investment funds used by hospitals already come from the private sector.
The number of hospitals in Germany has been steadily declining for 30 years. While the country still had more than 2,400 hospitals with about 665,000 beds in 1991, this figure has dropped to fewer than 1,900 hospitals and about 480,000 beds, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
The COVID-19 pandemic and the recent increase in respiratory infections make it clear that Germany “needs a strong hospital system and comprehensive medical coverage,” Gass said. end
