German hospitals protest lack of funds, warn of looming crisis

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) – German health professionals staged protests in various cities on Wednesday, demanding more funding for hospitals.

In the capital Berlin, several hundred protesters attended the rally organized by the German Hospital Federation, protesting against the government’s health reform plans, and austerity measures.

The federation’s chairman, Gerald Gass, told Anadolu that hospitals may face a wave of bankruptcies in the coming months due to financial problems.

“Hospitals are in a dramatic economic situation at the moment, we urgently need fair financing conditions. Only this way we can ensure that hospitals in Germany do not have to be closed, and we would be able to care for patients without an interruption,” he said.

Gass said in the first half of this year, more than 50 hospitals filed for bankruptcy, twice as many as in the same period last year.

“This shows that a new wave of insolvencies is rolling, and hospitals that we need in many regions may have to be shut down. This must be prevented,” he stressed.

During the rally in Berlin, health professionals chanted slogans against Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Finance Minister Christian Lindner, and Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

They carried banners bearing the messages “Lauterbach, Lindner, Scholz, wake up,” “Stop the death of hospitals,” “Inflation adjustment, now”, and “Equal working conditions for everyone.”

One of the protesters, Claudia Noack, said despite high inflation and skyrocketing energy prices, hospitals have not received a comparable increase in their funding.

She said unless the government intervenes and takes measures to provide more support for the hospitals, patients would have to wait for several months to get an appointment or receive treatment.

Barbara Majd Amin, another protester, slammed the government for spending billions on the armament, but not allocating the necessary funds for the health sector.

“The government approved a special €100 billion fund to buy more tanks and ammunition, but it says it won’t be able to find €10 billion for the hospitals! This should be protested by all,” she said.