Health Minister Magnus Jung expressly welcomes the joint decision and emphasizes: "For the Saarland state government, ensuring comprehensive and high-quality healthcare provision is a top priority. With significantly improved mutual coordination of services between the cts and Winterberg clinics, the foundation is laid for increased collaboration. Both institutions sharpen their profiles and thus contribute to securing a modern and future-proof hospital landscape in Saarland. This decision enables investments of nearly a quarter of a billion euros at the Saarbrücken location and guarantees hospital care for decades to come. A triad of new concepts, new cooperation, and new investments also allows for even higher treatment quality in Saarbrücken. With this agreement, we create security together in uncertain times."
The agreement provides that the areas where there were previously duplicate structures will in future be offered only at one location:
· Concentration of elective endoprosthetics service groups in the orthopedics department of CaritasKlinikum Saarbrücken
· Concentration of senology in the breast cancer center at
Caritas Hospital Saarbrücken
· Concentration of Psychosomatic Medicine at CaritasKlinikum Saarbrücken
· Concentration of Vascular Surgery at Winterberg Klinikum
· Concentration of Urology at Winterberg Klinikum
· Concentration of Spinal Surgery at Winterberg Klinikum
· Concentration of the Liver Procedures Unit at Winterberg Klinikum
· New Emergency Medicine Unit at CaritasKlinikum Saarbrücken and Winterberg Klinikum
Saarbrücken's Mayor Uwe Conradt: "Winterberg, like all municipal major hospitals, faces significant challenges. We want to ensure secure healthcare provision for today and the future. It is important for us to have the commitment from Minister Dr. Magnus Jung that the state will initially cover the eligible costs for the planning of the Winterberg Health Campus. This enables us to finally get this important project underway. These plans are necessary to create a solid cost calculation. Based on this and the results of the hospital reform, we can then make further decisions regarding the implementation of the project. We firmly assume that the federal government, with the reform of hospital financing, will finally create the conditions for us to operate economically viable again at Winterberg. And we expect the state to also meet its responsibility in case of possible additional costs during the further project planning and implementation. Both are fundamental prerequisites for the success of the project."
"The approval of the funding is a clear sign of the Saarland state government's strong trust in the CaritasKlinikum Saarbrücken and demonstrates its importance for patient care in the state capital Saarbrücken and beyond. The planned construction measures are an important part of the future concept – they enable us to offer the best possible conditions for the CaritasKlinikum Saarbrücken: modern and attractive workplaces for our employees – for optimal medical and nursing patient care. In these very challenging times, the CaritasKlinikum Saarbrücken is now taking the next big steps towards the future. However, a fundamental prerequisite for the successful implementation of the plans remains adequate hospital financing from the federal government," explains Alexander Funk, Managing Director of the Caritas Trägergesellschaft Saarbrücken.
"With the Health Minister's commitment to cover the planning costs, an important milestone of our future concept Health Campus Winterberg has been reached," says Dr. Christian Braun, Managing Director and Medical Director of Klinikum Saarbrücken, "With regard to the dynamics of structural change in healthcare and the resulting challenges, large projects like ours must be approached step by step and continuously adjusted. Currently, much is in transition and change, but Winterberg has a clear plan. The associated construction project can now finally move into the next phase."
This negotiation result shows that the hospital sponsors want to actively shape the structural changes with a realistic view of the health reform and do so with the goal of providing forward-looking and efficient healthcare for the people of Saarland.
Furthermore, the letter of intent is to include the state's funding for the two locations. The construction measures in Saarbrücken and the consolidation of the cts locations in Saarbrücken and Dudweiler are supported with state funds amounting to 75 million euros, plus almost 23 million euros in federal funds from the structural fund. For the promotion of the new "Gesundheitscampus Winterberg," state funds of 85 million euros are planned. The state government estimates the construction costs at both locations to be approximately 120 million euros each.
