Hesse: State hopes for agreement on university clinic by the end of the year

Gießen/Marburg (dpa/lhe) - In the negotiations for the further development of the privatized university hospital Gießen and Marburg (UKGM), the state of Hesse is building on an agreement by the end of the year.

Hesse: State hopes for agreement on university clinic by the end of the year

Gießen/Marburg (dpa/lhe) - In the negotiations for the further development of the privatized university hospital Gießen and Marburg (UKGM), the state of Hesse is building on an agreement by the end of the year. A solution should be sought by then, as there is "considerable unrest" among employees and on the scientific side, the Ministry of Science in Wiesbaden announced. Hesse and the UKGM operator, Rhön-Klinikum AG, are therefore in contact for further talks between the state's negotiators - Science Minister Angela Dorn (Greens) and Finance Minister Michael Boddenberg (CDU) and the company side.

The state and the majority owner Rhön-Klinikum AG, which belongs to the Asklepios Group, have been struggling for months over the question of the further development and financial resources of the UKGM. Among other things, this involves state subsidies for investments and the waiver of redundancies for operational reasons. The background to the talks is that Rhön had terminated a previous so-called future agreement for the UKGM in June. The regulations and agreements between the state and the group that are enshrined therein expire at the end of the year. There is still no agreement on the affiliation agreement.

In the past week, clinic employees had again stopped working during warning strikes in order to emphasize their demand for safe working conditions. They fear that without a new agreement there could be layoffs or parts of the business could be outsourced. Clinic directors are also concerned: numerous investment measures are still on hold, they wrote in a statement. Together with the canceled contract for the future and the resulting lack of funding at a relevant level, "a thoroughly threatening situation" arises for the hospital.