Swiss cantons want to retain control of hospitals
The Conference of Cantonal Health Directors is resisting proposals for national hospital planning. The federal government is far away from everyday healthcare, Conference President Lukas Engelberger told SonntagsBlick.
The federal government would have to build structures and acquire the necessary knowledge, Engelberger said in the interview published on Sunday. Consequently, the federal government would also have to pay for inpatient hospital treatment. The cantons currently bear more than half of these costs.
Cantons need to plan better and work more closely together, said Engelberger. However, the number of hospitals is not crucial. What is more important is how efficiently the hospitals are organised.
The cantons of Basel-City and Basel-Country have joint hospital planning, said Engelberger. It was shown there that there was sometimes an “above-average use of certain medical treatments”. The Conference tried to restrict performance orders. Individual measures ended up in court. “The federal government would also have this experience if it were to take over hospital planning,” said Engelberger.
The president of the health insurance association Santésuisse, Martin Landolt, proposed national hospital planning last Wednesday. The cantons are in a conflict of interest. As a result, they run “overpriced and unnecessary” hospitals, Landolt told Tamedia. This statement is incorrect, said Engelberger.
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