Frequently asked questions

Clinics in rural areas face a number of particular challenges: Structural underfunding and inadequate service financing, economic constraints due to the flat rate per case system, insufficient investment subsidies, inflation and rising costs are putting smaller hospitals under enormous cost pressure. Added to this are demographic change and the shortage of skilled labour: providing medical care to a constantly ageing society with a shortage of qualified staff is a balancing act that repeatedly presents clinics with challenges.

In order to alleviate the economic pressure on hospitals, the federal and state governments are working on hospital reform - with the aim of ensuring and improving the quality of treatment, guaranteeing comprehensive medical care, reducing bureaucracy in processes and making the services offered by hospitals more transparent.

The reform aims to move away from a billing system based solely on flat rates per case towards financing via flat rates per case. This means that inpatient care is to be remunerated independently of the services provided. To this end, the federal states categorise hospitals into care levels (Level 1n, Level 2, Level 3) - depending on their facilities and services - and then assign them to service groups that are remunerated accordingly. The aim is to ensure that care is not determined by quantity, but above all by quality.

In order to create the framework conditions for the best possible healthcare in Waldeck-Frankenberg in view of the hospital reform, the hospitals in Korbach and Frankenberg, which are under municipal ownership, are to be merged. The Korbach municipal hospital is to be taken over as part of this process. A hospital with two sites - in Korbach and Frankenberg - is to be created under one roof.

By merging the two hospitals into one clinic with two sites, specialised medicine can be maintained and expanded in Waldeck-Frankenberg and the quality of care can be improved. The aim is to put both sites on a sound economic footing - even under challenging conditions. And in the long term. Remaining under municipal ownership thus guarantees a continued focus on the needs of the people living here.

As part of the planned hospital reform, the co-operation between the two hospitals offers significantly higher chances of being allocated service groups by the state of Hesse. Why? The expertise and equipment of the two sites together offer better conditions for obtaining supply contracts for medical services from the state. More services mean more flat rates - and therefore more financial resources. In addition, the hospitals under joint ownership have a better chance of achieving a better ranking in the Federal Hospital Atlas, which gives patients a transparent insight into quality and services and is therefore particularly important for elective treatments.

The aim of the merger is not to reduce services, but to pool expertise and equipment in order to benefit both locations. In the course of this, there will be reorganisations, but these will in no way be aimed at reducing services - rather at ensuring and increasing medical care at both locations.

The merger of the hospitals should take place by 1 January 2026 if possible. This has already been agreed in the political round and a joint letter of intent was signed in 2024. The internal and external coordination processes are currently taking place. These are being closely monitored by the management of the clinics, the political bodies and the works councils as employee representatives. In addition, the steps of the transaction process and the future medical strategy are being supported by specialised service providers.

The state of Hesse, as the hospital planning authority, expressly supports the district's decision to merge the two clinics and will accompany the transformation process accordingly. There have already been many discussions and personal meetings between the district and the state of Hesse. The district will continue to liaise closely with the stakeholders at state level in the upcoming process.