There is some movement in the deadlock over the new future contract for the privatized university hospital in Gießen and Marburg, which is in financial difficulties.

The majority owner Rhön-Klinikum AG and the Asklepios group behind it have named a new negotiating group for the talks with the state of Hesse, as the FAZ has learned.

Before that, there had been a top-level discussion between the Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein and the Asklepios shareholder Bernard Grosse Broermann on the UKGM clinic.

Thorsten Winter

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung for central Hesse and the Wetterau.

  • Follow I follow

In the negotiations between the state and UKGM, Rhön and Asklepios, the latest letter from the state side dates from mid-September and has not yet been answered, the Ministry of Science announced.

And: "The negotiators in the state, Science Minister Angela Dorn and Finance Minister Michael Boddenberg, will now approach the company side with further proposed dates." This is a consequence of the top-level talks.

Clinic Directors: Invest or Sell

The directors of the privatized university hospitals in Giessen and Marburg are meanwhile complaining about the conduct of the Asklepios group.

Numerous investment projects to which Rhön Klinikum AG had committed are still on hold, it is said.

In addition, according to their statements, the clinic directors do not see any actions by Asklepios and Rhön for a promising development of the third largest German clinic, known as UKGM for short.

At the same time, they approve of the move by the mayor of Marburg, Thomas Spies (SPD).

The head of the town hall has announced that Marburg could invest up to 100 million euros in a state-owned UKGM.

According to Science Minister Angela Dorn (Die Grünen), the country has not received a buyback offer.

The state had sold the majority of UKGM to Rhön in 2006 and now only holds five percent of the shares.

At the time, the clinic suffered from an investment show in the three-digit million range - currently a similarly large sum is missing.

In January, the country had offered to invest a total of 490 million euros in the UKGM over ten years.

But the negotiations for a new future contract are faltering.

"An extension of this state of lack of prospects - i.e. a lack of agreement by the end of the year - is an existential threat to the university hospital," warn the clinic directors.

They demand a clear investment plan from Asklepios/Rhön or a buyback by the state.