Additional corona aid for the University Hospital in Frankfurt amounting to 48 million euros is causing “huge trouble” at the University Hospital in Gießen and Marburg, as the medical director at the Gießen site, the lung specialist Werner Seeger, told the FAZ.

The state justifies the subsidy for Frankfurt with reference to the care of those seriously ill with corona and the associated burden on the hospital's budget.

Thorsten Winter

Business editor and internet coordinator in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Seeger emphasizes that the Gießen site alone has treated a higher number of corona patients and more serious cases than the Klinikum am Main.

However, it does not get an extra subsidy from the state for this.

The displeasure is also great because the state is supporting the Frankfurt clinic with a good 56 million euros this year, to which the 48 million euros would be added.

Giessen and Marburg together received 8.1 million.

Compensation from the country for corona losses

As the Ministry of Science explained on request, the treating clinics had to and still have to provide additional beds and postpone planned interventions in the corona pandemic in order to ensure in-patient care for all patients.

The Uni-Klinikum Frankfurt and the central Hessian major clinic, known as UKGM for short, would therefore have received compensation payments from the liquidity reserve of the health fund.

"The state had successfully campaigned for the university hospitals to benefit from the hospital future fund to promote necessary investments in hospitals, which was set up in the wake of the corona pandemic," it continues.

The ministry also referred to the deficits accumulated by the Frankfurt University Clinic as a result of the corona burden.

The country wants to ensure financial compensation.

The UKGM, on the other hand, writes profits.

Appeal to Rhön-Klinikum and the State of Hesse

In view of this justification, Seeger expressed his incomprehension.

Despite the loans granted by majority shareholder Rhön, UKGM ultimately made a profit.

His starting point in the financial year is usually different than in Frankfurt.

Because the central Hessian clinic has to raise almost 40 million euros in interest and repayments every year and work successfully in order to break even.

Against this background, the UKGM sees itself at a disadvantage when it comes to corona aid.

The medical director is meanwhile appealing to Rhön and the state to resume their suspended talks.

It was imperative that an agreement be reached quickly.