Hirslanden boss warns: ‘The business plans will no longer work’

According to Hirslanden boss Daniel Liedtke, the business models of Swiss hospitals will no longer work in the coming years. In an interview, he demanded that the reimbursements should either be increased or that the hospitals be subsidized directly with taxpayers’ money.

The CEO of the private Hirslanden Group demanded that cantonal and private hospitals be treated equally. Because the cost problems would not bring the hospitals under control even with the best managers, Liedtke said in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” published on Tuesday.

“We need to have a fair debate about what we want to afford as a society,” he said. This also involved socially and politically uncomfortable questions: “For example, what do we do with a 95-year-old who is dying? How innovative and comprehensive should medicine be allowed to act then?” Hospitals and health professionals are not allowed to answer such questions.

However, Liedtke also called for a critical look at the industry itself. You overslept a lot. The workers were seen as a resource, he said. “Salary is certainly a factor, but a lot also has to do with shifts and hierarchies in the hospital,” he said. (sda)