German hospitals may face closures due to energy crisis: health minister

Some German hospitals could go bankrupt because of the energy and inflation crises, the nation's health minister has warned.

"If we do not react there quickly and also really drastically, there will be closures," Karl Lauterbach told public broadcaster ARD late on Sunday, adding that he will negotiate with Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Tuesday about more government aid for hospitals.

However, he could not give "any order of magnitude" regarding the amount of aid until then, he added.

On calls for there to be some kind of "special fund" for hospitals in Germany, similar to the special $97.4 billion (€100 billion) fund for the military, Lauterbach reacted negatively.

"We cannot introduce a special fund for every area," he said. After all, Lauterbach continued, "everything has to be paid off."

The background to Lauterbach's comments are demands by the German Hospital Association for rapid aid from politicians. 

The society fears otherwise closures of numerous hospitals. 

According to the German Hospital Association, the financing gap for material costs and energy adds up to around $15 billion in 2022 and 2023.

READ MORE: 'Skipping meals': Germany's low-income families hit hard by gas crisis

"Enormous price increases"

The inflation rate in Germany rose to 10.9 percent in September. 

The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) explained that the inflation rate had thus reached "a historic high since German reunification." The reasons are "enormous price increases" for energy products and food.

Leading German economists have been warning for some time that rising gas prices could push the EU's largest economy into recession. 

According to the experts, Germany will be one of the countries hardest hit by the global economic slowdown next year.

READ MORE: Germany will sink into recession, inflation will soar in 2023, govt admits