Laumann: Hospital reform in NRW to be completed by the end of 2024
According to Health Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU), the new hospital planning for North Rhine-Westphalia should be completed by the end of next year. "We will achieve this goal in 2024," said Laumann on Wednesday in the state parliament's budget debate. The reform is intended to improve the quality of medical care. Hospitals should also become more economically stable. "But above all, we also want to ensure that we have sustainable and accessible hospitals for the population throughout North Rhine-Westphalia in the long term," said Laumann.
In future, hospitals in NRW should concentrate on certain services and no longer offer everything. However, the basic principle is that a hospital offering internal medicine and surgical care must be accessible to 90 percent of the population within 20 minutes by car. Intensive care medicine must be available nationwide.
2.5 billion euros are available for the far-reaching hospital reform. However, Finance Minister Marcus Optendrenk (CDU) had cut the investment funds in the 2024 draft budget by 150 million euros and postponed them until 2025. However, he said that the funding framework of around 2.5 billion euros would remain unchanged in the coming years.
Negotiations between hospitals and health insurance companies began in the fall of 2022. The district governments have been reviewing the results since May of this year. According to the Ministry of Health, all hospitals should receive a new determination notice by the end of 2024 and thus know which service groups they will be allowed to offer in future.
The completion of the hospital reform in NRW, as outlined by Health Minister Laumann, also includes ensuring sustainable and accessible hospitals for the population in Parliament discussions. Moreover, the reform aims to strengthen the financial stability of hospitals across the region.
Source: www.dpa.com
