If the negotiations end successfully from the point of view of the Leverkusen clinic, the Alexians from Münster, as owners of the Remigius hospital, will only make a relatively short guest appearance in Opladen: “The two clinics are negotiating the takeover of the Leverkusen clinic by the Opladen clinic,” the large hospital in Schlebusch announced on Friday afternoon. “The negotiations are based on profound changes in the German hospital landscape. Hospital planning, economic conditions and legal reform projects are challenging healthcare providers across the country to create care offerings fit for the future.”
The Alexians purchased the Remigius Hospital from the insolvent and now defunct KPlus group on February 1, 2024. The sponsoring company from Münster now says it wants to ensure, on the one hand, medical care in Opladen and, on the other hand, future prospects for the employees of the Remigius Hospital.
Benjamin M. Koch, managing director of the Rhine Alexian Association, emphasizes: “We are not having these discussions due to the economic emergency.” And further: “The Alexianer St. Remigius Hospital is distinguished by high professional quality, great commitment and strong Christian influence. This is why we carefully examine which structure offers long-term development opportunities for institutions, employees and care in Leverkusen. Leverkusen Clinic presented a good concept that we are studying intensively.”
The two institutions have not announced when negotiations began. Recently, the clinic found Bergisches Land in terms of growth – keyword: takeover of the Wermelskirchen hospital, which is currently experiencing financial difficulties. However, consideration of the issue has been postponed for now. And now they are completely excluded from the discussion. “The location in Wermelskirchen will not be part of the larger Leverkusen hospital. The management of the clinic today officially informed the appointed insolvency representative and the government of the County of Cologne about this decision,” says clinic spokesman David Posor.
In the spring of 2025, the clinic announced that it would integrate the Wermelskirchen building into its corporate structure. “Yesterday, Thursday, the responsible committees of Klinikum Leverkusen gGmbH decided that this will not happen. As you know, last year we investigated with great care and considerable effort whether it was possible for our group to take over the management of the Wermelskirchen hospital,” says the clinic’s management. “During this process, we developed a robust medical concept for the facility, but the subsequent review process failed to create sufficient conditions for joint implementation.”
It continues: “The final results of the inspection concluded that the house could not be operated sustainably or economically for us in the medium to long term.”
Now it’s all about medical care in Leverkusen itself. Remigius Hospital “will not be just another location for us, but an important component of Leverkusen’s strong hospital network,” emphasizes the clinic’s managing director André Schumann. The goal, among other things, is to “maintain the growing advantages of Oplanen. We know the importance of the building to the local community and to the employees.”
The location in Opladen should remain as an “established healthcare offering” and at the same time become part of Leverkusen’s overall healthcare strategy. The clinic’s medical director, Anja Mitrenga-Teusinger, adds on the health policy level: “This network solution could become an example of planning goals for a new hospital in North Rhine-Westphalia at both federal and state level,” says Mitrenga-Teusinger.
However, she has not yet given any details about how this will work in practice, as negotiations with the Catholic hospital operator from Münsterland will still take some time. According to the current status, they should be completed in the fall, according to the schedule of the Schlebuscher hospital.