DRK bankruptcy: shock for ten clinics in Rhineland-Palatinate!

DRK bankruptcy: shock for ten clinics in Rhineland-Palatinate!

On February 7, 2025, the German Red Cross (DRK) announced that all DRK clinics in Rhineland-Palatinate are insolvent. These are ten clinics that leave the hospital care in this state. The DRK President Gerda Hasselfeldt criticized that a lack of financial transitional regulation in the current hospital reform has a heavy burden on the situation of the clinics. This reform initiated by Health Minister Karl Lauterbach provides for a stronger specialization and partially departure from financing through flat rates. This not only leads to a reduction in clinics, but also to longer travel routes for patients.

According to a report of the ZDF , almost every sixth hospital in the sponsorship of the DRK is insolvent. The DRK runs 38 hospitals in Germany in total, five of which are now in Rhineland-Palatinate and one in Hesse in a critical situation. The economic situation of the clinics is often described as poor. According to a survey by the German hospital company, 61 percent of hospitals believe that they suffered losses in 2023; In 2024, 80 percent of the clinics reported an unsatisfactory economic situation.

The crisis of the German hospitals

The situation of the German hospitals reached a historical low after an analysis by the German Hospital Institute (DKI). The dkg reports that 79 percent of the hospitals for 2024 expect a negative annual result and two thirds of the facilities with a further deterioration of their finance until 2025. Smaller hospitals in rural regions in particular have to struggle with enormous challenges and appreciate their situation as particularly pessimistic.

The financial difficulties result from price increases for personnel and material costs. In 88 percent of hospitals, this has a strong impact on liquidity. Many clinics rely on the financial support of their sponsors in order to be able to counter bankruptcy risks. Health Minister Lauterbach, who is accused, is particularly criticized to further tighten the situation through bureaucratic requirements.

political reactions and local events

In the middle of these health-political turbulence, other events also took place in Rhineland-Palatinate. Prime Minister Alexander Schweitzer (SPD) traveled to Pope Francis to Rome for a private audience, while CDU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz held an election campaign event in Stromberg. Merz may be criticized in asylum policy because of his attitude to the AfD.

in Müsch, the second stele of the "Way of Memory for the Future" was also inaugurated on the Ahrufer, which is reminiscent of the flood disaster of 2021. At that time, this tragedy called for the life of a 19-year-old firefighter and six campsite residents.

The general weather forecast for the day promised foggy and cool conditions with a maximum temperature of 6 degrees. This information illustrates both the current political and social reality with which the citizens of Rhineland-Palatinate are confronted.