German Hospital Federation / Deutsche Krankenhausgesellschaft e.V. (DKG)

The German Hospital Federation is the federation of national and state associations of hospital owners. It supports its members in fulfilling their tasks in the hospital sector. The German Hospital Federation (DKG – Deutsche Krankenhausgesellschaft e.V.) is the representative organ of all German hospitals. It bundles and advocates their interests regardless of the kind of ownership. Public, private for profit and private not for profit or charity based hospital owners are unionised in the DKG via its member organisations: 16 associations on the Federal States level (Bundesländer) are providing special services to the hospitals in their region, e.g. negotiating hospital plans and prices. The other type of members are the twelve national associations, dedicated to each type of ownership who bundle the special interests of their hospitals. On this broad basis, DKG represents the whole range of interests of the providers of hospital care.