The parliamentary group Freie Wähler and FÜR Karlsruhe demands immediate measures from the state and federal governments to maintain the efficiency of Karlsruhe’s hospitals. The Karlsruhe Municipal Hospital and the ViDia Christian Clinics in Karlsruhe are reaching their performance limits due to ever-increasing costs and the burdens of the new Corona measures. In a press release dated September 16, the Karlsruhe hospitals once again drew attention to the balancing act of their work at the financial limit and a downward spiral due to staff shortages.
City Councilor Petra Lorenz addressed her questions to Health Mayor Lisbach, expressing concern about the lack of emergency room capacity in Karlsruhe.
Unlike university hospitals in the state, the Karlsruhe Municipal Hospital is largely financed by the city itself and receives construction subsidies from the state. The FW|FÜR parliamentary group demands more commitment from the state of Baden-Württemberg for the Karlsruhe hospital, which as a regional center provides health care for the entire surrounding area.
According to Prof. Dr. Geißler, medical director of the hospital, “Karlsruhe hospitals provide care for around 400,000 people a year” – yet there is no planning security for the hospitals through a package of measures or inflation compensation:
“With the lack of aid to hospitals and physician practices in the federal government’s relief packages, we must take the hospitals’ alerts very seriously”
City Councilor Friedemann Kalmbach (FOR Karlsruhe)
Unlike private-sector companies, hospitals or doctors’ offices are not allowed to pass on rising costs or an increase in workload to their patients. The costs of hospitals are paid by health insurance companies and these are strictly regulated by law. Thus, economically, hospitals do not have the authority to offset their real costs.
The loss of one of the two clinics would be a bitter loss for Karlsruhe:
“We already have a shortage of doctors in the surrounding areas of Karlsruhe, but increasingly in the city as well. If further medical services are now eliminated, such as special departments in hospitals or opening hours of emergency rooms, a crisis of minimum health care will be added to the Corona and Karlsruhe financial crises.”
City Councilor Petra Lorenz (FW)
