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Private care for the elderly on the rise in Switzerland

elderly home
© Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

The trend towards privatisation in the elderly care sector is continuing in Switzerland.

In 2022, 47.3% of retirement homes and nursing homes were owned by for-profit companies compared to 45.6% in 2021. The same trend was observed in home help and care, the Federal Statistical Office revealed on Friday.

With this increase, private companies provided 42.3% of elderly care places last year. They managed 1,485 retirement homes and nursing homes.

+ Care in old age: childless people fall through the cracks

The remaining establishments were publicly owned (22.9%) or privately owned with public subsidies (29.8%). The most common legal form was the foundation (29.4%), followed by the limited company (24.8%), both of which are growing in relation to 2021.

Elderly care costs will rise by 2.6% in 2022 to CHF11.05 billion ($12.25 billion). The biggest increase, of 44%, was in third-party services with CHF164.3 million paid for temporary or interim staff.


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