Around 25% of hospitals may have to be closed unless a comprehensive reform is carried out, Germany's health minister said on Thursday.
"We have the highest costs for hospitals in the EU. We spend 3.4% of our country's economic output on a system that doesn't work," Karl Lauterbach told Bild newspaper.
The minister said the government's reform plan aims at reclassifying the hospitals, promoting specialization, and ensuring a better distribution of resources.
"We have very high costs with poor or average results in many cases. We no longer have enough staff to maintain the old inefficient structure. We need quality instead of quantity - and that nationwide," he stressed.
According to the government's reform plan, many units in small clinics will be closed, and most of the surgeries and treatments will be performed by specialized hospitals.
Lauterbach is currently holding talks with representatives of the federal states, in a bid to convince them that the reforms will save the hospitals, and will not have a negative impact.
