The Diakovere clinic group considers it increasingly unattractive to be a pure hospital operation. “Basically, you can say one thing: It is no longer a business model in Germany to only operate hospitals,” said medical director Christian Unzicker of the “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung” (Friday). “More and more corporations make a living from the fact that they have models for counter-financing hospitals.” Stefan David, also managing director, spoke of a slightly negative result for Diakovere last year: “Hospitals nationwide have slipped into the deep red.”
Diakovere has the advantage of being a social enterprise, explained David. “In addition to the hospitals, we also have help for the elderly and the disabled, for example. So we can support each other internally with the different business areas.” According to its own information, Diakovere is Lower Saxony’s largest non-profit company in the health, social and education sectors.
Unzicker emphasized that Hanover is “one of the few cities in Germany that is not so oversupplied with clinics”. Regarding the idea that clinics help each other out when there are staff shortages, he said: “It’s always not easy. The employees don’t necessarily want to go to another house.”