Annual report 2023
Investment in personnel is particularly important in difficult times
Key figures 2023
USB
Konzern
42'244
stationäre Patientinnen und Patienten
8'183
Mitarbeitende
1,4
Mrd. CHF Umsatz
2,2 %
EBITDAR-Marge
Interview with Chairman of the Board of Directors Robert-Jan Bumbacher and Director Werner Kübler
The University Hospital Basel (USB) is in the red. Nevertheless - or precisely for this reason - it is important to invest in the working conditions of employees and in efficiency. In order to strengthen the backbone of regional healthcare for the future.
A year ago, the USB was still able to report a profit, but now the result is a significant loss. How did this come about?
Bumbacher: This is largely due to the general economic climate, particularly in the healthcare sector, and even more specifically in the large central and university hospitals. In contrast to most other comparable hospitals, the University Hospital Basel was still able to remain in the profit zone in the previous year. However, the USB also suffered a significant loss in the 2023 reporting year. This was mainly due to a combination of various factors, such as insufficient financial compensation for our services and the sharp rise in prices in all areas, such as medical supplies, electricity and wage costs.
Kübler: There are also internal factors. After the pandemic, we are once again seeing pronounced seasonal fluctuations in patient volumes, which was hardly the case before. Added to this is the shortage of specialist staff. These circumstances make capacity planning more challenging. We have taken measures to deal with these challenges and are joining forces to implement them. This means that we use our resources as economically and effectively as possible and continuously improve our processes. Our employees are the most important factor here: They do an excellent job.
Nevertheless, the USB continues to invest in staff, digitalization and the building infrastructure. How do you explain this?
Bumbacher: The USB has a clear mission: to ensure that the city, the region and its population are provided with excellent quality healthcare services in the long term. As a strong backbone of the regional healthcare system, the USB has a responsibility to invest in basic care, maximum care, cutting-edge medicine, training and research at the right time.
Kübler: We are also guided by practical necessities: Medicine is developing at an incredible pace. We have to regularly update our infrastructure, be it digital or structural. The fact that more and more services can be offered on an outpatient basis does not mean that a university hospital needs far fewer inpatient beds, for example. But it does mean that our processes are constantly changing. This has an impact on our staff, in whom we are constantly investing to keep working conditions attractive.
«Punkto Attraktivität geht es im Kerngeschäft des Spitals nicht ‘nur’ um den Lohn, Investitionen in die Arbeitsbedingungen sind ebenso wichtig. Dazu gehören ganz speziell die Vereinbarkeit von Arbeit und Familie, die Aus- und Weiterbildung oder die Ausgestaltung des Schicht- und Pikettdienstes.»
Dr. med. Werner Kübler, Hospital Director
If we stay with personnel: The USB, like the entire industry, is struggling for skilled workers. What are we doing here?
Bumbacher: Despite the financial situation, we are consciously investing in staff. Being an attractive employer is essential in order to be able to provide services for patients around the clock. We have once again granted the cost-of-living adjustment and made targeted investments in attractive working conditions, both for nursing staff and for assistant and senior physicians.
Kübler: For these professional groups in the hospital's core business in particular, it's not "just" about pay. Investment in working conditions is just as important. These include, in particular, the compatibility of work and family, training and further education, and the organization of shift and on-call duty. For the hospital, this is associated with organizational as well as economic challenges. It also needs the support of politicians and society. Ultimately, the question is: how much is a well-functioning healthcare system in which people enjoy working worth to us?
The pandemic has been declared over, but the USB is still seeing record numbers of patients. Why is this?
Kübler: We are seeing this phenomenon throughout the hospital sector. Patient numbers are rising and there are a number of reasons for this. On the one hand, it is certainly the demographic trend: we are getting older and older and the baby boomers are now at an age where they have a whole range of age-related illnesses. On the other hand, medical progress means that we have effective treatment options for more and more diseases. The centers are disproportionately affected by these developments, as this is where these patient flows come together.
Bumbacher: We should not forget: This trend is clear proof that we are doing an excellent job at the USB. It shows very clearly that the USB is the backbone of healthcare in Northwestern Switzerland. I would like to express my thanks to all employees for this outstanding work.
Robert-Jan Bumbacher, Chairman of the Board of Directors USB
«Wir rechnen für das Jahr 2024 erneut mit einem Defizit, allerdings einem deutlich geringeren als im Berichtsjahr 2023. Mittelfristig sehen wir das USB auf dem Weg, weiterhin in das Personal zu investieren und die in Angriff genommenen Investitionen in das Generationenprojekt Campus Gesundheit und in die Digitalisierung selber finanzieren zu können.»
Let's take a look into the future. Will next year be easier
than last year?
Kübler: Short answer: For hospital operations as such, no. The demand for our services will continue to rise. We also see little easing on the labor market. We have to stay on the ball here in order to offer attractive working conditions. After ten years of planning, we have started building the new Clinic 2. This generational project will help us enormously in our work in the long term, but will bring with it a number of challenges during the construction period. However, I have no doubt that, thanks to the performance of our employees and good planning, we will continue to do our work to our usual high standard in the coming year.
Bumbacher: On the financial side, the improvements in tariffs will bring some relief. Inflation is also no longer at the level that has caused us problems in recent years.
caused us problems in recent years. Basically, the challenges of recent years remain: The tariffs do not cover costs and the compensation for public services is inadequate. We are again expecting a deficit for 2024, albeit a significantly smaller one than in the 2023 reporting year. This is also thanks to major efforts to increase efficiency. In the medium term, we believe that the USB is on the right path to continue investing in staff and to be able to finance the investments in the Campus Health generation project and digitalization that have been initiated.
News from the USB
_web.jpg/jcr:content/24.09.01.EMYL_PantonGang_Def(5)_web.jpg)
The Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is the supreme management body of the company. The Board of Directors constitutes itself. The election of the Chairman by the Government Council is reserved. The Board of Directors delegates the management of the company in its entirety to the hospital management, unless the law or the organizational regulations provide otherwise. The Board of Directors is responsible for the overall management, supervision and control of the management.
