Wertheim, 29 September 2026. For Wertheim and the surrounding region, a long-held hope is becoming reality: from Thursday, 1 October 2026, the Bürgerspital Wertheim is extending its central emergency department to round-the-clock operation. The hospital will then be available to the ambulance services, to general practitioners and specialists in private practice, and to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for emergencies requiring outpatient or inpatient treatment. Just over 20 months after reopening on 7 January 2025, a central goal of the reconstruction has been achieved.
For many people, this step means far more than longer opening hours. It means regaining a sense of security. The long wait, the hoping and the worrying about an emergency department that is once again reachable at all times comes to an end. The vision of a rebuilt hospital with genuine 24/7 emergency care is becoming a lived reality.
A promise to the region, kept
Medical care in Wertheim dates back to the year 1359. That made the closure of the former Rotkreuzklinik in June 2024 all the more painful. What followed was a joint effort: the town of Wertheim bought back the hospital building, the state of Baden-Württemberg approved the operation of the hospital, and the town council created a basis for funding emergency care with a compensation agreement. On 7 January 2025, the hospital reopened its doors as the Bürgerspital Wertheim.
The Westfalenklinik Group (CGCE) took on a special responsibility and went a remarkable step further: it runs the Bürgerspital as a pro bono project without any intention of making a profit. The aim is not merely to give the region back a hospital building, but to restore an efficient and comprehensive platform for emergency care around the clock.
“We came to Wertheim to take responsibility – and, together with the people here, to bring back something that had been sorely missed: the certainty of being able to reach a hospital in an emergency, even at night,” says Alexander Gläser, CEO and managing partner of the Westfalenklinik Group (CGCE). “For us, 1 October is therefore far more than an operational milestone. It is a promise kept. We believed in this hospital when its future was anything but certain. That we are standing here today is thanks to people who turned this belief into reality with extraordinary commitment.”
Thousands of treatments show how much the hospital is needed
The very first year of operation shows how important the Bürgerspital is: in 2025, a total of 6,828 patients were treated and 4,487 emergencies were cared for. The annual figures also show 1,817 inpatient admissions. The hospital’s importance extends beyond the state border: around 37 per cent of patients came from municipalities in Bavaria.
For 2026, the published hospital planning anticipates around 11,600 patients across the entire hospital and an average of around 630 emergencies per month. These planning figures show the scale of care the Bürgerspital is preparing for. Behind every single treatment is a person who needs help, guidance and medical care.
More than an emergency department: a hospital with a new medical profile
Opening around the clock is part of the consistent expansion of basic and standard care. The Bürgerspital combines internal medicine, surgery, and anaesthesia and intensive care with specifically developed medical specialisms. These include gastroenterology and endoscopy, general and visceral surgery, trauma surgery and orthopaedics, spinal surgery, and bariatric and plastic reconstructive surgery. While emergency care is financially supported by the public sector, the Westfalenklinik Group bears 100% of the economic risk of basic and standard care and of its affiliated specialist clinics alone.
With the Weight Doctors® NATIONALKLINIK, the lipoedema centre and other specialised services, the hospital is also gaining a distinct profile that reaches far beyond immediate emergency care. A visible example of the development work achieved is the DHG seal “Quality-assured hernia surgery” awarded to the department of general and visceral surgery in August 2026. This creates new treatment options that strengthen the hospital’s medical importance and open up further prospects for its development.
“A 24/7 emergency department does not simply mean keeping a door open for longer. Behind it are qualified teams, reliable processes and the interplay of emergency medicine, diagnostics, surgical care and intensive care,” explains Dr. med. Oliver Scheffel, Chief Medical Officer of the Westfalenklinik Group (CGCE). “Our ambition is to combine this emergency care with strong basic and standard care and selected medical specialisms. That is exactly where the future of Wertheim lies: a hospital that helps in the acute moment and creates lasting medical value beyond it – as a beacon well beyond the region.”
Trust that grows in everyday hospital life
How well the new Bürgerspital has been received is also shown by the many positive patient comments and publicly available reviews. Time and again, people highlight the friendliness of the staff, clear explanations from the doctors, attentive nursing care and the feeling of being taken seriously as a person. The feedback on care in the emergency department and on the wards is particularly gratifying. It gives the hospital’s development a personal voice – and shows what care close to home means for those affected.
For the Bürgerspital, this support is both confirmation and obligation: people’s trust is not to be won through new services alone, but earned through every single encounter in the hospital.
An extraordinary achievement by the whole team
The step to 24/7 operation is above all an achievement of the staff. Today, 208 employees, including 53 doctors, provide care at the hospital. Whether in nursing, the medical service, the emergency department, the operating theatre, diagnostics and therapy, or in administration, technical services, cleaning, the kitchen and logistics: the reconstruction has demanded a great deal of everyone involved. New teams had to come together, structures had to be built and processes developed further – while patients were already being cared for day after day.
“What our employees have achieved over these 20 months deserves the highest respect,” emphasises Dr. med. Gerhard Schüder, Medical Director of the Bürgerspital Wertheim. “They have not only done their daily work, but helped to build a hospital. With expertise, perseverance and a great deal of heart. They have our sincere thanks. That we can now also be there for people at night is their shared success – and a special moment for our entire hospital.”
Thanks to everyone who made this possible
The Bürgerspital and the Westfalenklinik Group would like to thank everyone who has supported the reconstruction closely, constructively and in a spirit of partnership. These thanks go to the town of Wertheim and the town council, the state of Baden-Württemberg, the supporting municipalities, the Förderverein Bürgerspital Wertheim (friends’ association) and the many companies and donors. Their commitment has made a major contribution to giving emergency care a foundation once again.
Thanks also go to the ambulance services, the doctors in private practice, the cooperating hospitals and medical partners – and not least to the people of the region who have placed their trust in the new Bürgerspital. The milestone reached belongs to everyone who believed in this shared future and helped to build it.
A decisive milestone – and the next beginning
The Westfalenklinik Group is confident that the launch of the 24/7 emergency department will be followed by further important developments to strengthen the Bürgerspital Wertheim medically and economically. Expanding specialised services, developing cooperation with regional partners and consolidating operational structures for the long term remain central tasks.
1 October therefore does not mark the end of the reconstruction – but it does mark one of its most important goals. The hope of emergency care that can once again be reached around the clock becomes a concrete place to turn to.
Bürgerspital Wertheim: there for you in an emergency around the clock from 1 October 2026. 365 days a year.
More information: buergerspital-wertheim.de (in German) and Responsibility at the CGCE Group.
For Wertheim. For the region. For the people who need it.
