Bremen races to save its hospitals from financial collapse

Let me be absolutely clear: Restructuring our hospital system is essential. The Senate is working on this with the utmost urgency. Concrete steps have already been taken for the municipal hospital network Gesundheit Nord in particular. The goal is also clear: a balanced operating result. This is undeniably ambitious, given that most hospitals across Germany have been running deficits for quite some time.

But one thing is equally clear: Cutting off subsidies overnight would drive Gesundheit Nord to the brink—with devastating consequences for all other hospitals in Bremen. Overall, this would be a disaster for patient care, not to mention the threat to jobs. Such proposals are the height of irresponsibility," declares Claudia Bernhard, Senator for Health, Women, and Consumer Protection, her voice rising in frustration.

Baseless Smears?

Senator Bernhard continues: "The proposed shift in drug policy is, above all, a testament to sheer ignorance—both of the nature of addiction as a disease and of modern drug support structures. Instead, what we're seeing is a campaign of baseless smears against chronically ill individuals and the dedicated staff of drug assistance services, who work tirelessly every day to prevent deaths and make survival possible."