Stadtwiki Baden‑Baden
Company

Klinikum Mittelbaden gGmbH

Two shareholders, twelve sites - and a deep deficit

Klinikum Mittelbaden gGmbH is the municipal hospital and care group owned by the city of Baden-Baden and the district of Rastatt. It runs acute hospitals in Baden-Baden, Rastatt and Bühl, along with nursing homes, outpatient care services, medical care centres and a hospice, which makes it the largest provider of medical care in the region. Its Baden-Baden hospital is the Klinik Baden-Baden Balg.

Shareholders and governing bodies

The group is a non-profit limited company. Its articles of association date from 1 October 2003, and the company was entered in the commercial register on 20 November 2003. The district of Rastatt holds 60 per cent of the share capital of 36.5 million euros, the city of Baden-Baden the remaining 40 per cent.[1]

That ratio governs more than the votes. Both shareholders cover subsidies and losses in proportion to their stakes, which leaves Baden-Baden carrying 40 per cent of them. This is why the city is pressing to move away from the formula in the negotiations over the planned central hospital.[2]

The district administrator of Rastatt chairs the supervisory board, the mayor of Baden-Baden serves as his deputy. Management is split between Felix Brenneisen, who runs the company commercially, and Thomas Iber, who is responsible for medical affairs.[3] Since taking office on 28 April 2026, mayor Thomas Jung has held the hospital group among the companies in his portfolio.[4]

The company’s registered office lies on Dr.-Rumpf-Weg in Ebersteinburg, where the group has its head office.

Sites and services

The group operates twelve sites. Its acute hospitals hold 890 planned beds, its care facilities 681 places for full inpatient care, plus short-term and day care, 94 places in assisted living support, twelve hospice places and a supported housing scheme. Some 3,000 staff treat around 32,974 patients and care for roughly 762 nursing guests in an average year.[1] Every year, 1,617 children are born at the group’s hospitals.[5]

Acute care rests on three hospitals: Baden-Baden Balg, Rastatt and Bühl. Beyond them, the group runs nursing homes in Baden-Baden, Bühl, Kuppenheim and Ottersweier, an outpatient care service, medical care centres, its own nursing school and the Kafarnaum hospice.[6]

Financial situation

The group has been posting losses for years, and they are growing: minus 5.7 million euros in 2022, minus 8.9 million euros in 2023, minus 16.75 million euros in 2024. As of 31 December 2024 it owed 33.4 million euros to banks. The district’s shareholdings report blames the high cost of agency staff, the shortage of skilled workers and the shift of formerly inpatient treatment into outpatient care.[1]

The German law on stabilising statutory health insurance contribution rates hits an already loss-making hospital group hard. The supervisory board discussed the financial situation on 22 May 2026, and on 12 June 2026 the workforce joined the political leadership and the regional nursing alliance for a day of action under the slogan “Kein Geld. Keine Versorgung. - Wir sind für Sie da. Solange wir noch können” (No money. No care. - We are here for you. As long as we still can).[7]

The central hospital debate

Since 2021 the shareholders have pursued a single new building near Rastatt that would concentrate acute care in one place and end the three existing acute hospitals. For Baden-Baden that would mean losing its own hospital. A referendum on 29 June 2025 went against those campaigning for the Baden-Baden site, and the Münchfeldsee location in Rastatt stands.[8] The search for a site, the conditions and the timetable are all part of the debate over the Zentralklinikum Baden-Baden Rastatt.

References

  1. ↑1.1↑1.2↑1.3 Beteiligungsbericht 2024 des Landkreises Rastatt, Landkreis Rastatt, pp. B-28 to B-34, accessed on 11 July 2026 (Archived)
  2. ↑ Kommt das Zentralklinikum nach Rastatt oder doch nach Baden-Baden?, Staatsanzeiger für Baden-Württemberg, 13 December 2024, accessed on 12 July 2026 (Archived)
  3. ↑ Impressum, Klinikum Mittelbaden, accessed on 11 July 2026
  4. ↑ Oberbürgermeister und Bürgermeister, Stadt Baden-Baden, accessed on 11 July 2026 (Archived)
  5. ↑ Wir stellen uns vor, Klinikum Mittelbaden, accessed on 12 July 2026 (Archived)
  6. ↑ Startseite, Klinikum Mittelbaden, accessed on 11 July 2026
  7. ↑ #ZukunftKMB, Klinikum Mittelbaden, accessed on 11 July 2026 (Archived)
  8. ↑ Baden-Baden stimmt für das Zentralklinikum Rastatt, Staatsanzeiger für Baden-Württemberg, accessed on 11 July 2026 (Archived)
German original last checked on 12. July 2026
Automatically translated on 12. July 2026