Cloppenburg City Council secures the future of the St. Josef Hospital!

Cloppenburg City Council secures the future of the St. Josef Hospital!

There are signs of change in the city of Cloppenburg, especially for the Sankt Josef Hospital located there. On Monday evening, the city council sent an important signal with a unanimous resolution and supported the clinic with a loan and the acquisition of shares. The city acquires 12.55 percent of the shareholder shares for 5,000 euros, which gives it a say in the hospital's economic affairs NWZonline reported. This commitment is supplemented by a long-term loan of 2.67 million euros, which is secured by a mortgage on the developed land.

However, these financial measures will only come into force if the district council also approves it on Thursday. In this context, among other things, a takeover of 25.1 percent of the share capital and a loan of 5.33 million euros will be voted on. It was made clear that the city and district will only pay as soon as the clinic's insolvency proceedings have been legally concluded, which is expected to be the end of June.

The challenge of bankruptcy

The Sankt Josefs Hospital has already filed for insolvency proceedings on its own, a step that was announced to around 860 employees on Monday afternoon. Managing director Andreas Krone made it clear that the clinic was structurally underfinanced. Increasing material and personnel costs in the last two years and stagnating remuneration made the financial situation threatening NDR reported. The sale of the medical center and the community psychiatric center could not avert the crisis.

In order to achieve a sustainable economic restructuring of the clinic, a restructuring plan will be drawn up and the protective shield procedure will not lose sight of its goal. Nevertheless, patients should continue to receive full care. The board of the Sister Euthymia Foundation, Ulrich Pelster, reiterated the intention to remain present in the region as a reliable healthcare provider.

The economic situation of hospitals in Germany

The case of St. Joseph's Hospital is not isolated. On a larger level, there is a worrying development among hospitals in Germany. According to that Medical Journal 11% of clinics are on the brink and are in the “red zone” with an increased risk of insolvency. The causes are diverse: inflation, rising material and personnel costs as well as a decreasing number of patients are affecting the hospital landscape.

More and more hospitals in Germany are expecting negative annual results for 2023 and beyond. The Sankt-Josefs-Hospital is also facing this impending wave of insolvencies, but is pushing ahead with the commitment of the city and the district. The hospital's financial problems are described as "home-made", with Mayor Neidhard Varnhorn emphasizing that the challenges are not local, but at the political level in Hanover and Berlin.

What remains remarkable is that the Sankt Josefs Hospital is considered the largest employer in Cloppenburg and an important location factor. The city administration and the district council are determined not to abandon the clinic and are planning to take further steps to secure both patients and employees at the location. Let us remember: a crisis shows what people can achieve together.