Overview
- An Ifo and ZEW analysis reports border hospitals lost about 12% of nursing staff compared with similar inland districts.
- Each percentage-point drop in staffing correlated with a 0.4% rise in mortality, yielding an overall 4.4% higher death probability in affected clinics.
- Mortality increases were largest for critical cases, including 17.7% for heart attacks and 11.6% for sepsis.
- Care capacity shrank as nursing intensity fell by roughly 0.8% per patient and the chance of receiving surgery declined by about 1%.
- Regional health indicators worsened, with life expectancy down about 0.3 statistical years, while national bodies warn of roughly 17,600 nursing vacancies.