The financial situation of university hospitals is extremely difficult and the population could suffer, their officials indicated Thursday in Bern. Investments are necessary, but their financing is not guaranteed.
Gathered before the press, heads of Switzerland’s five university hospitals and medical faculties highlighted the central role of their institutions as pillars of healthcare as well as research centers and training institutes.
This role is currently under strong pressure due to significant investments, on the one hand in digital and architectural infrastructures and on the other hand in the adaptation of working conditions.
Currently, there is no plan to specifically support university hospitals in this area, said Antoine Geissbühler, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Geneva and director of teaching and research at University Hospitals. from Geneva. “Without support, we will not achieve transformation,” he added.
These investments are necessary, but they are not taken into account in the prices. “The pricing partnership is thus emptied of its meaning,” writes the Swiss University Medicine association. in a press release“and it is above all the population who will suffer”.
Negative results
“The year 2023 saw a massive shock to the hospital system, despite an increasing number of patients,” said Werner Kübler, director of the University Hospital Basel and president of unimedsuisse.
In 2023, all university hospitals recorded a negative annual result, for a total of 210 million francs. This is explained by the additional costs linked to rising prices and wages as well as a still tense pricing situation.
For this reason, the university hospitals terminated the stationary pricing agreements with insurers in the summer of 2023 and were able to negotiate better rates. Stationary tariffs must take into account the specific cost structure of university hospitals, otherwise the Swiss health system will begin to erode from the top, officials warned.
Ambulatory in crisis
In the outpatient sector, which plays an increasingly important role, the situation is even more alarming: prices do not cover costs and have not been adapted for twenty years.
If university hospitals want to meet the population’s expectations for outpatient treatment and capacity reserves, an urgent increase is necessary. This is the only way to ensure that the pricing partnership is not rendered meaningless, according to them.
The second stage of the implementation of the care initiative also represents a challenge, since it involves improving the working conditions of care staff.
Specific services
For Werner Kübler, “university hospitals need correct pricing and financing of their services. They need adequate framework conditions to be able to fulfill their central mission in terms of initial and continuing education.”
Monika Jänicke, CEO of the University Hospital Zurich, criticized the fact that the revision of the Health Insurance Ordinance treats university hospitals in the same way as other clinics, when in reality they must provide additional services, for example for serious burn victims.
ats/miro
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