Berlin, Europe Brief News – A substantial number of hospitals in Germany may face closures amid rising energy crisis, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said.
“The hospitals are in a very special situation. If we do not react quickly and really drastically, there will be closures,” Lauterbach told the ARD broadcaster.
Lauterbach said he would discuss the amount and the form of assistance that should be provided to hospitals with Germany Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Tuesday.
However, Berlin has no plans to create a special fund for hospitals, similar to the one set up for the Bundeswehr.
“We cannot create separate special funds for each sphere,” Lauterbach stressed.
Western countries have increased sanctions pressure on Russia since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
However, disruption in supply chains has led to higher fuel and food prices across the European Union and the United States, driving inflation to record levels and causing the cost of living to soar.
The soaring price of energy is the latest calamity to strike hospitals in Europe.
The energy crisis set in motion by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have spilled onto the wards and hallways of health care institutions, whose staff are exhausted and depleted more than two years into the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, hospitals are turning down the thermostats, or having to temporarily close units as energy and other costs bite. Some even face closure.
