The state of Rhineland-Palatinate has significantly increased its financial support for research and teaching at the Mainz University Medical Center, which is generally running at a loss, in recent years. The so-called state allocation amount grew by around a quarter from 95.04 million euros to 119.19 million between 2020 and 2024, according to a response from the Ministry of Science and Health in Mainz to a request from the CDU parliamentary group.
There has been a long-standing debate about adequate financial resources for the university hospital in the areas of research and teaching and their impact on the overall profitability of the hospital, which is in competition with other university hospitals. However, the huge deficits arise in health care. As in other hospitals, treatments are financed on the basis of flat-rate fees by cost bearers such as health insurance companies, the ministry explained when asked. In recent years, however, these flat-rate fees have not covered the costs. In 2023 alone, the university hospital’s loss will ultimately amount to around 113.6 million euros.
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Peter Pulkowski/University Medical Center Mainz
Because healthcare is not profitable, the university hospital is taking out working capital loans, according to the ministry. These have now accumulated to more than half a billion euros. They cannot be reduced as long as the hospital is making a loss. The state assumes guarantor liability for the loans, i.e. it is liable in the event that the university hospital is no longer able to pay them off at some point – it is therefore an indirect burden on the state budget. This is why the university hospital can only take out loans within the framework of a loan authorization passed by the state parliament, explained the ministry. This currently stands at 750 million euros.
Deficit to be reduced to zero within five years
However, the deficit at the university hospital is not expected to continue indefinitely. The supervisory board, chaired by Health and Science Minister Clemens Hoch (SPD), has asked the management board to develop a concept by the end of the year that will reduce the losses to zero in five years.
In 2019, the university hospital commissioned the auditing firm KPMG to prepare a report on its financial resources, also in comparison with other university hospitals, as can be seen from the ministry’s response to the CDU parliamentary group’s inquiry. However, the results of this analysis are only of limited significance because there are very different systems for financing university hospitals.
“The state’s budget cannot be based on comparisons such as those made in this study,” the ministry writes. Instead, the university hospital is asked to present the needs, which will then be discussed. Nevertheless, discussions between the university hospital and the ministry on the basis of the report have contributed to a certain objectivity of the issue.
