Central Europe | Commonplaces as heat protection

Take Thuringia, for example: There were urgent warnings here in the summer about what the high temperatures mean for everyone who is in hospitals and nursing homes. In addition to patients and residents, there are also employees. The situation in many facilities is “catastrophic,” warned Stefanie Döll, senior doctor in the emergency center at the Bad Berka Central Clinic. Although the operating rooms are air-conditioned for hygiene reasons and there are additional air conditioning systems in emergency rooms, there is no way to lower the temperatures in the vast majority of hospital areas. “We wear functional clothing,” said Döll, referring to doctors and nursing staff. "It's designed for wind and weather, but not for temperatures of 35 degrees and above."

If you want to talk to those responsible in Thuringian hospitals or at the state hospital association today about what concepts there are now for better heat protection, then there is only silence. Which will definitely lead to bad sweating again in the summer of 2027.

Of course, this also has to do with the financial situation. Many clinics and nursing homes cannot pay for the large-scale retrofitting of air conditioning systems for their wards themselves. And given the lack of money in public coffers, the German state is finding it difficult to provide the funds.

There is not enough money to equip all patient rooms in clinics or nursing homes with air conditioning.

After all, new constructions or extensive renovations to medical facilities now ensure that they provide the best possible protection against heat. “New construction projects that are financed by the state as part of individual funding should of course meet the current construction standards, including in the area of ​​heat protection,” says a spokeswoman for the Thuringian Ministry of Health. In principle, the states are responsible for hospital investments. There is also a transformation fund, which is partially financed by the federal government and which can also be used to pay for some things that lead to more shade, more greenery or more cool interior spaces. The Federal Environment Ministry’s “Climate Adaptation in Social Institutions” program exists for existing buildings.

Overall, there is not enough money to equip all patient rooms in German clinics or nursing homes with air conditioning. The same applies to the lounges and work rooms of doctors, nurses, cleaners and service employees. This is also because the electricity costs for operating such systems are immense. “In order to adapt the hospitals structurally and technically, we must continue to carefully examine which existing funding opportunities can be used by the federal and state governments,” says State Health Minister Katharina Schenk (SPD).

For a little relief, everyone can only hope for existing heat protection plans: "With the Thuringian Heat Action Plan, we have created a framework to systematically counter the health consequences of extreme heat," said the minister.

However, a look at such documents shows that no miracles can be expected from them. Often, generally known information is written down there: “Medicines should generally be stored in shaded rooms in order to maintain the temperature ranges specified for storage,” says the Federal Ministry of Health’s heat protection plan. Or: “Vulnerable patients should be moved to cooler rooms.” Or: “It should only be ventilated at night or in the early hours of the morning.”

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