hospitals - Concerned reactions to the financial issues of the University Hospital
Deputies have expressed concern over the financial problems of the Jena University Clinic and hold the state responsible. Thuringia's only University Clinic has written in the red for many years and used its own funds for investments accordingly, said the deputy SPD Fraktionsvorsitzende Lutz Liebscher. "If now the revenues fall behind the expenses, the state is obliged, according to its statutory duties, to come to the aid of investments and necessary new construction projects."
The state must take responsibility
For the SPD Fraktion, it is undisputed that the state will have to finance investments and construction projects at the clinic more strongly than before in the future. The financing of ongoing healthcare costs, however, lies with the health insurance funds. According to Liebscher, the federal government should also take on more responsibility in the context of the planned hospital reform and provide relief. With the reform pursued by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD), for example, the reimbursement system is to be changed.
CDU Fraktionschef Mario Voigt sees healthcare in danger and calls for a summit to clarify financial support. Patients and employees need quick security, Voigt wrote on X.
FDP Landtagsabgeordnete Robert-Martin Montag demanded that the state fulfill its financing obligations towards the clinic in full. The red-red-green coalition has deliberately let the heart of medical care in Thuringia bleed, Montag criticized. The fact that the reserves of the University Clinic are running out is mainly due to the fact that it often had to pay for necessary investments in construction projects and equipment itself, although exactly for this the land is obligated.
Rising costs burden the clinic
The University Clinic in Jena is struggling with financial problems due to higher prices, for example, for energy, as well as wage increases. At the same time, the clinic sees the reimbursement of treatments in the current legal regulations not adequately reflected. As a solution, the clinic considers, for example, a loan coupled with a subsidy from the state. Decisions on this have not yet been made.
To the patient care at the University Clinic in Jena with 1400 beds belong 32 clinics and polyclinics and more than two dozen research institutes and scientific working groups with a total of almost 7000 employees.
The state has reacted to the difficult financial situation of the hospitals with a planned guarantee program for clinics in economic distress. According to earlier reports, the volume for this is planned to be 100 million Euro. The state wants to secure loans that hospitals have to take on to finance cost increases with the guarantees. The negotiations on this are still ongoing.
For headlines in the past, there was, for example, the insolvency of the Bavarian-Thuringian clinic group Regiomed with locations also in Neuhaus, Sonneberg, and Hildburghausen.
- The SPD Fraktionsvorsitzende Lutz Liebscher highlighted that Thuringia's University Clinic, which has been operating at a loss for years, has used its own funds for investments.
- CDU Fraktionschef Mario Voigt voiced concern about the financial state of hospitals and called for a summit to discuss financial support for patients and employees.
- The FDP Landtagsabgeordnete Robert-Martin Montag criticized the red-red-green coalition, stating that they have neglected the clinic's financing obligations, leading to depleting reserves.
- The University Clinic in Jena is facing financial problems due to rising costs, including energy prices and wage increases, which are not adequately reflected in the reimbursement system.
- The state of Thuringia has planned a guarantee program for clinics in financial distress, with a proposed volume of 100 million Euro, to secure loans and help hospitals navigate cost increases.
