According to specialised press, the Federal Council of Hospital Establishments is requesting an additional €300 million for health care institutions in 2022.
The current cost of living crisis is being felt throughout Belgian society, and as energy prices and inflation rise as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, hospitals are beginning to fear the worst.
While the medical sector has not yet felt the effects of these changes, there is concern that all hospitals will face a structural increase in expenditure as indexations occur earlier than expected. With both electricity and natural gas experiencing the greatest difference.
According to a survey of 48 hospitals conducted by the Council, energy expenditure would cost an additional €300 million than the pre-Covid era average. This sum represents the salary costs of approximately 4,000 full-time employees.
The Council's council
The Council has already proposed a few ideas in order to implement these additional costs.
They are requesting that the government temporarily reinsert the revenue generated by taxes on hospital energy bills back into the health-care sector.
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This would be accompanied by more structural measures through the Financial Means Budget, which the government uses to allocate a budget to each hospital. These measures would eventually align with energy prices, once they have stabilised.
However, there is a widespread belief that these calculations understate the needs of hospitals. This is because the health-care industry must account for rising staff costs as a result of earlier-than-expected salary indexations.
What are those within the sector calling for?
Margot Cloet, an important associative actor within the health care sector, told Le Spécialiste that "we are calling for a system that harmonises indexation and follows the rate of inflation." As they they do not want "to dip into reserves that should normally be used to finance construction and other projects."
When asked if hospitals had done enough in recent years to reduce energy costs, Cloet responded, "while the Financial Means Budget did offer full reimbursement of energy investments, the reality of each hospital must be taken into account."
Adding that "We are only now beginning to recover from the pandemic, and we are now confronted with the Ukraine crisis. So, for the time being, we're concentrating on the latter."
She concluded by saying that her wish if for these issues to be discussed at the government's next budgetary meeting.
