The German Hospital Society (DKG) fears a wave of bankruptcies in hospitals in the coming year. “In 2023, our clinics will be hit by a wave of insolvencies that can hardly be stopped,” said DKG boss Gerald Gass of the editorial network Germany (RND, Tuesday editions). The effects on medical care would be felt in many regions in 2023.

According to a representative survey of general hospitals in Germany, 59 percent of the hospitals expect to be in the red by the end of the year. According to the survey, the proportion of hospitals with a positive annual result will more than halve from 44 to 20 percent.

According to the hospital barometer of the German Hospital Institute (DKI), 56 percent of hospitals expect the economic situation to deteriorate further in the coming year, while only 17 percent expect an improvement.

"Corona and the recent accumulation of respiratory diseases have shown that we need a strong hospital system and nationwide care," Gass told RND. Germany cannot afford "further surprising closures".

According to the survey, the staff situation in the clinics continues to give cause for concern. By the middle of 2022, almost 90 percent of the hospitals had problems filling open nursing positions on the general wards, and this applied to three quarters of the hospitals in intensive care. Compared to the previous year, the number of open nursing positions rose by 43 percent to 20,600.