Gießen/Marburg/Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - Senior physicians at the University Hospital Gießen and Marburg (UKGM) are calling for a quick agreement on the future of the privatized hospital. An agreement is "the touchstone for the viability of the concept of a privatized university hospital," according to a statement made public on Thursday. The clinic directors appealed to those involved to “conclude the negotiations immediately”.
Talks are underway between the state of Hesse, which still holds five percent of the university hospital that was privatized in 2006, and the majority owner, Rhön-Klinikum-AG, which has since been bought by the Asklepios hospital group. "The relevant negotiations are now faltering and are in danger of failing," write the doctors. The fact that Rhön terminated the "future agreement" from 2017 was met with "concern and incomprehension". This also regulated the financial resources of the clinics.
In 2005, Rhön waived investment funds from the state. "De facto, however, the operation of a university hospital is not possible without these investment funds," the letter says. With the takeover of Rhön by Asklepios, ongoing investment projects were stopped. There is a dramatic investment backlog. "The clinic directors view this development with great concern, as it increasingly calls into question university patient care."
The Hessian Minister of Science, Angela Dorn (Green Party), sees her position confirmed by the statement that the negotiations "must be continued urgently and brought to a conclusion". One takes the criticism very seriously that construction projects at the UKGM have been stopped, including those to which Rhön has committed. "It is foreseeable that the vast majority of projects will not be completed by 2024. The delays cannot be explained by the Corona crisis and the Ukraine crisis alone." Rhön should seize the opportunity "to finally tackle the most important investments of the coming years with the support of the state".
In mid-June, Rhön CEO Christian Höftberger justified the termination of the paper from 2017, among other things, with the fact that the UKGM would be deprived of investment funds for university clinics in Germany.
