Profits with health

Vamed: Is there a threat of a sell-off after the state’s exit?

A Vamed subsidiary is responsible for technical management at Vienna General Hospital.

(Bild: Holl Reinhard)

It was a bombshell that has received little political attention so far: The healthcare group Vamed with over 20,000 employees is being broken up and sold to several groups. This was made possible by the withdrawal of the state. Now there is concern about the continued existence of dozens of rehabilitation clinics in Austria.

Vamed not only operates rehabilitation centers, but also has shares in several thermal spas in Austria (including Therme Wien, Geinberg, St. Martins) and is responsible for the technical management of Vienna General Hospital. Vamed's business areas are now split between various companies.

Group with billions in turnover
The state holding company ÖBAG sold its 13 percent stake to the German majority owner, the listed hospital operator Fresenius. Vamed's hospital services division has a 30 percent share of sales. Vamed recorded a turnover of 2.36 billion euros in 2023, but was in the red. The operating loss amounted to 16 million euros in the previous year.

ÖBAG boss Edith Hlawati

(Bild: APA/ÖBAG/Georg Wilke)

Were rehab clinics sold off to "locusts"?
A large proportion of Vamed employees work in the rehabilitation clinics, the majority of which were sold to the investment company PAI Partners at the beginning of May. This sale is highly controversial. Germany's Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) spoke of "locusts" in connection with PAI's transactions in the German healthcare sector. PAI acquired one of Europe's largest nursing home chains in France in 2014 and sold it on to a questionable British investor at a high profit just three years later. Since then, there have been complaints about a massive deterioration in the quality of treatment.

This sale makes it clear how unstable public care is due to internationally active private investors who have no interest in solidarity-based care.

ÖGK-Arbeitnehmer-Obmann Andreas Huss

Bild: APA/Tobias Steinmaurer

A similar situation is also suspected in Austria. According to ÖGK employee representative Andreas Huss, there is a justified suspicion that the fund only sees this as a short-term profitable exploitation. He assumes that the companies will be cut back on services and staff and sold on at a profit, says Huss in an interview with the "Krone" newspaper.

Fund should operate rehabilitation centers itself
"Companies that invest in the healthcare system are rarely interested in maintaining the solidarity-based healthcare system, but are instead focused on profits." After the Vamed break-up, the health insurance fund should operate rehabilitation centers itself, which will cause additional financial burdens. "More money is needed to ensure adequate healthcare. This should be financed with taxpayers' money," says Huss. The sale of Vamed puts many rehab centers at risk, including a children's rehab center in Salzburg, a rehab center for cancer patients and one for drug addicts.

SPÖ demands reversal
The Governor of Burgenland, Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ), sees a "dangerous undesirable development" and calls on Chancellor Karl Nehammer to intervene. SPÖ leader Andreas Babler agrees, and the Medical Association is also critical. "We must learn from the mistakes of other countries. Examples such as Great Britain clearly show that privatization in the healthcare sector leads to unequal access to healthcare services and additional costs for patients," warns Rudolf Silvan, spokesperson for the Ombudsman of the SPÖ.

The existence of rehabilitation clinics is called into question

(Bild: Honorar)

The ÖVP and above all the Ministry of Finance, which is responsible for ÖBAG, defended the deal and rejected the accusation that it had been sold to a "locust". The PAI Group is from the sector and very successful, they say.

In Lower Austria, the state should step in
The SPÖ Lower Austria is now calling for the state to step in and take over the locations. "Vamed has three locations in Lower Austria: the rehabilitation clinic for mental health in Gars am Kamp, the Waldviertel psychosomatic center and the senior center in St. Corona am Schöpfl." The state should take these over in order to ensure that these facilities are operated in the public interest and to guarantee high-quality healthcare. "Because what must not happen under any circumstances is that greed for profit and profit maximization take priority over the well-being of patients," says Control Provincial Councillor and Provincial Party Leader Sven Hergovich.