Over the past months, RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG’s efforts to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic have continued undiminished. Dr. Christian Höftberger, Chairman of the Board of Management of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG, said: “We are currently witnessing an exponential rise in infections. Combined with seasonal spikes in diseases, this is exacerbating the current situation in hospitals. Yet, unlike at the beginning of the pandemic we now benefit from our extensive experience in treating COVID-19 patients and are hoping to see manageable courses of the disease thanks to the Corona vaccinations. But for all our optimism we also note that the selfless, outstanding commitment of our employees over a period of now one and a half years – similar to the trend seen nationally – is taking its toll in terms of increasingly exhausted medical staff.”

Taking on challenges together – appeal to federal politicians
The most pressing tasks of RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG also include the following three areas of action: strengthening nursing and medical care, ensuring that hospitals concentrate on their core activities, and pooling special know-how. The Company is tackling these areas with the involvement of all employees whilst being helped by its collaboration with the companies of the Asklepios Kliniken GmbH & Co. KGaA group.

RHÖN-KLINIKUM AG sees a need for reform in healthcare policy. The Company wholly welcomes the wish of the exploratory coalition partners SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and FDP to make preparedness and prevention a guiding principle of German healthcare policy. The basic idea of more cross-sector cooperation is also a sensible one, but should be accompanied by a radical reduction in sectoral boundaries – particularly between outpatient and inpatient care – as it is worked out in detail.

"Currently what we really need is solution-based approaches to reduce the significant investment backlog in the German healthcare industry, and we appeal to the exploratory coalition partners to explicitly address this issue", said Höftberger. Also badly needed is significantly more investment in building infrastructure and medical technology. In future, violations of the principle of dual financing must no longer be condoned. Instead, effective sanction mechanisms must be put in place.

Guidance
Thanks to the positive business performance in the first nine months of financial year 2021, the Board of Management of RHÖN‐KLINIKUM AG on 8 October 2021 decided to adjust the previous forecast for earnings before interest, tax and depreciation/amortisation (EBITDA) for financial year 2021 (put at between € 72.5 million and € 82.5 million). For financial year 2021 the Board of Management of the Company now expects an EBITDA of between € 92 million and € 102 million. The forecast for revenues for financial year 2021 of € 1.4 billion within a range of +/‐ 5% is maintained. This forecast reflects the heightened regulatory interference by the German legislator, such as the Regulation on Nursing Staff Floors (Pflegepersonaluntergrenzenverordnung, PpUGV) and the Nursing Staff Strengthening Act (Pflegepersonalstärkungsgesetz, PpSG). We also note considerable uncertainties in the forecast in terms of the further course of the COVID-19 pandemic and any regulatory measures impacting our remuneration structure in 2021.

Full results are published in the Quarterly Statement at:
https://en.rhoen-klinikum-ag.com/investor-relations/publications/interim-reports-quarterlystatements.html