Karl Lauterbach (SPD), Federal Minister of Health, speaks at the 19th National Industry Conference of the Healthcare Industry. /image alliance, Bernd Wüstneck
Rostock – Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) sees healthcare reform as a great opportunity for smaller regional hospitals in rural areas.
The reform will be a blessing for federal states such as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania because small hospitals will emerge from their deficit situation, Lauterbach said today at the National Healthcare Industry Conference in Rostock.
“Smaller houses receive a guarantee of existence through operating costs.” Fixed fees for the provision of certain services, as well as subsidies, are important elements of the future financing base.
Overall, Lauterbach’s analysis of Germany’s healthcare system was sobering: “We are not doing well.” The system is inefficient and, per capita, the most expensive in Europe.
20 years have been lost to digitalization and there are major problems in medical research. He does not want to provoke “alarmism”, but rather points out the urgency of the turnaround that has also been initiated in the health system.
In the afternoon, Lauterbach wants to visit the Helene von Bülow Clinic in Ludwigslust. Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) said the aim was to maintain all hospitals in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
However, it must be clear which hospital takes on which task. In rural areas this is mainly about basic supplies. With the reform, the number of cases would no longer determine the future of a hospital. This system change is fundamentally correct, but the reform is an “open heart operation”. © dpa/aerzteblatt.de