As of: February 29, 2024, 6:00 a.m
By: Sebastian Tauchnitz
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The Penzberg Hospital was sold to the Starnberg Clinics in 2012 for one euro.
© Ralf Ruder
The hospitals in the region are financially up to their necks.
In this context, concerns are increasing as to whether the continued existence of the Penzberg Hospital can be guaranteed.
District
- For a long time, the highly controversial sale of the Penzberg Hospital to the Starnberg Clinics in 2012 was considered a success story.
In contrast to the Weilheim-Schongau GmbH hospital, which has been dependent on millions in subsidies from the district for more than ten years, the Starnberg clinics, to which Penzberg belongs, worked to cover their costs and were even able to finance investments from the profits generated.
But the current trend that hardly any hospital in the Oberland can operate to cover costs does not ignore the Starnbergers either.
Last year, the Starnberg clinics, which include the hospitals in Starnberg, Herrsching, Seefeld and Penzberg, produced a total deficit of ten to twelve million euros, according to Starnberg's district administrator Stefan Frey (CSU).
Penzberg would suffer a loss “in the low single-digit million range,” says the managing director of the Starnberg clinics, Dr.
Thomas Weiler.
“It is well known that the house in Penzberg is not self-sustaining,” he says.
So far this has not been of any significance because the deficits that arose in Penzberg “were able to be offset by the profits that were generated elsewhere in the group”.
Last year, the Starnberg clinics could no longer function without a subsidy from the district.
Does the district have to compensate for the losses in Penzberg?
It's not far to a political debate about whether the Starnberg district should cover the deficits for a hospital in the Weilheim-Schongau district.
“This is a political issue, you have to ask the district administrator,” says Weiler when asked by the local newspaper.
District Administrator Frey reports that experts are currently checking the structure of the Starnberg clinics.
“In this context, we will look closely at whether it will be possible to integrate Penzberg into a sustainable concept,” says Frey.
It is not due to the occupancy or the number of cases, he emphasized.
But the current resources available would simply not be enough to cover the costs of running hospitals.
“We were of course spoiled in Starnberg because we never had to add anything in the past few years,” said Frey.
That’s why they don’t want to “jump the boat” but rather wait for the report.
And see whether Berlin “will come to fruition with its hospital reform”.
The current information is too thin to make strategic decisions about the future of the Starnberg clinics.
Penzberg ensures better bed occupancy in Starnberg
Frey has not yet sent an invoice to the Weilheim-Schongau district about the Penzberg Hospital's deficit: "That wouldn't be possible at all, it's our society, so we have to make up for the deficit if one arises." Nevertheless, it could There will definitely be debates on this issue in the Starnberg district council.
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For managing director Weiler, the Penzberg hospital is still an important part of his “group”.
Also because of its status as a “portal clinic”: cases that are so complicated that they cannot be treated in Penzberg are referred to Starnberg.
The Penzberg hospital also ensures better bed occupancy in Starnberg.
The Penzberg region is also dependent on the hospital, Weiler continued.
But he adds: “It should be clear to everyone that emergency rooms and intensive care units cost a lot of money.”
Starnberg's district administrator Stefan Frey also takes up this topic.
The Starnberg clinics, including Penzberg, currently operate four emergency rooms, he says: “I won’t move away from that as long as I’m not forced to.” But the Free State of Bavaria’s hospital planning will also play a crucial role in the future.
Mayor Korpan: “If subsidies are necessary, the district has to pay”
Penzberg's mayor Stefan Korpan is watching the debate about the hospital in his city very closely, he says.
“We are very grateful that we have had a reliable partner in the Starnberg clinics for many years.” He wants to fight for the future of the Penzberg hospital.
With a view to emergency care, but also to the fact that the Medical Care Center (MVZ) is very well received and busy.
If the Starnberg district only considers continuing to operate Penzberg if subsidies are paid, Korpan clearly sees the Weilheim-Schongau district as responsible.
What makes a key provider?
The hospitals in the Oberland are all currently getting into position.
Like the Weilheimer Hospital, many are currently trying to establish themselves as primary care providers.
According to the Bavarian hospital plan, these second-level hospitals are intended to “supply interconnected areas of several districts and independent cities”.
The managing director of the Starnberg clinics, Thomas Weiler, did not want to comment on the plan to establish Weilheim as a primary care provider: “We are concentrating on positioning the Starnberg clinics with a total of 520 beds - 100 of them in Penzberg - as a primary care provider.” The Weilheimer hospital According to the hospital plan, Garmisch-Partenkirchen has 490 beds.
For Thomas Lippmann, managing director of the Weilheim-Schongau GmbH hospital, this is not a problem: “The argument based on the number of beds is long outdated.
Instead, it will be important in the future which service groups are offered and at what quality standard.
And the Weilheim-Schongau GmbH hospital is way ahead.” set
Its duty is to provide health care.
And if a subsidy to the Starnberg clinics is “legally possible and necessary,” which must be checked in advance, then the district council must discuss the issue.
He made it clear that the city itself could not pay any subsidies.
Korpan recalled that “Penzberg also belongs to the Weilheim-Schongau district” and has paid considerable sums in district levy over the years, which were also used to finance the hospitals in Weilheim and Schongau.
Korpan leaves no doubt that the better way would be if the federal government and the Free State ensured reliable hospital financing.
What happens to the property in the worst case scenario?
For the worst case scenario - the complete closure of the Penzberg Hospital and the MVZ - there are corresponding provisions in the 200-page contract that the district, city and Starnberg clinics signed, the district office said on request: “Penzberg GmbH, which runs the clinic Penzberg is allowed to operate exclusively public health facilities on the premises of the Penzberg Hospital on a permanent basis,” it says.
There is a conditional right to repatriation for the city of Penzberg.
This is intended to ensure that the Starnberg clinics are not allowed to easily resell the property, which was transferred for the symbolic price of one euro, for a sum in the millions.