Status: December 29, 2020 3:59 pm

Many clinics in Germany have lost income for months due to postponed operations. The hospital society warned that salaries would soon cease to be paid. Health Minister Spahn has ensured liquidity.

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn (CDU) has issued a wage guarantee for hospital employees. “The federal and state governments share a responsibility. We want and will ensure the liquidity of the hospitals in the crisis. Employees can trust that,” Spahn told the editorial network for Germany (RND).

The Federal Ministry of Health announced that the federal and state governments will discuss other necessary measures in early January. A spokeswoman also referred to the existing support for the clinics.

The hospital society sounds the alarm

The German Hospital Association (DKG) had already sounded the alarm in light of crown-related operating restrictions. DKG President Gerald Gaß warned RND that clinics in general would no longer be able to pay their employees’ salaries in the first quarter of the new year if houses were no longer receiving financial aid.

In mid-December, the federal government put in place a new rescue package for hospitals. According to the concept of the Ministry of Health, they receive compensation payments in areas particularly exposed to corona if they forgo deferred interventions and thus keep beds and intensive care beds free for Covid 19 patients. Of this, however, only registers 25 percent of clinics, Gaß explained.

Two-thirds of clinics expect losses

Many clinics have been losing revenue from regular operations for months because they have capabilities for the care of corona patients. As reported by the Berlin “Tagesspiegel”, around two-thirds of all clinic operators expect losses this year. That comes from the current hospital barometer of the German Hospital Institute (DKI). Consequently, only 18 percent of the nearly 2,000 clinics with their 1.3 million employees rate their current financial situation as good.



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