District Administrator Voge under pressure: Responsibility for Märkische Clinics required!

Von Markus Schneiderling

Landrat Marco Voge soll Verantwortung für die Märkischen Kliniken übernehmen. Kreistagssitzung am 20. März 2025 geplant.
District Administrator Marco Voge should take responsibility for the Märkische clinics. District meeting planned on March 20, 2025. (Symbolbild/ANAG)

The pressure on the Märkische Clinics grows: Axel Hoffmann, FDP parliamentary group leader in the district council, demands that District Administrator Marco Voge personally take responsibility for the clinics. This requirement is supported by the FDP, SPD, Bündnis 90/The Greens and the UWG factions, which indicates a broad political agreement. The application is currently available and is scheduled to vote in the next meeting of the district council on Thursday, March 20. The background of this request is enough: the departure of Volker Schmidt, the Head of Health and Social Affairs, from the Supervisory Board of the Märkische Clinics is in the room.

The parliamentary groups agree that it is necessary that District Administrator Voge perceives the supervisory board in the Märkische Health Holding. In the past few months, the clinics had often been discussed in public, in particular due to numerous problems such as a lack of fire protection, a significant renovation backlog and the need for hospital reforms. This suggests the future of the facilities in question.

urgency of the problem

The concern for the Märkische Clinics is reinforced by the alarming financial situation. According to a message from the Märkische Kreis, a shortfall of up to 15.8 million euros is expected for 2025 and up to 9.8 million euros for 2026. A political decision about a necessary liquidity compensation is urgently necessary in order not to bring the clinics into an even more precarious situation.

The district administration has submitted three possible proposals for the financing that are to be discussed in the district council:

  • complete financing through the district budget.
  • complete financing through the Märkische Kommunale Wirtschafts-GmbH (MKG).
  • partially financing for 2025 via MKG (up to EUR 15.8 million) and 2026 over a district budget (up to 9.8 million euros).
So far, however, no decision has been made in the district committee, so that the need for coordination has been found. These uncertainties not only throw a bad light on the financial ability of the clinics, but also show the challenges that the local political decision -makers have to cope with.

funding and nationwide support

The first round of funding stipulates that 90 million euros will be paid out this year. The aim is to issue the first notice of entry by April 1, 2025. The remaining funding amount of around 2.1 billion euros remains reserved for further measures and adjustments in the health landscape.

In this context,

The importance of the Märkische Clinics in the context of the new hospital planning in NRW is also underlined. It remains to be seen how the situation will develop, especially in view of the planned meeting of the district council, which is due for March 20, as well as the application deadline for the vacant department head on January 17th.

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