If you want to run a private hospital, you need a license under commercial law, a so-called concession.

A hospital within the meaning of commercial law is a facility that is used for the treatment and care of patients and where patients are treated as inpatients, i.e. where they are also accommodated and fed.

Only private, commercially operated hospitals require such a license. Public institutions and those operated for charitable, benevolent or scientific purposes do not require a permit. In contrast to these, the entrepreneur operating the private hospital has the intention of making a profit from the operation.

You can, but do not have to be a doctor yourself. If you are a doctor, a distinction must be made between

• facilities that serve the exercise of your freelance activity (e.g. a surgeon's clinic) and

• establishments that are not directly related to your freelance work and are designed to make a profit.

The license indicates whether it serves to operate a private hospital, a private maternity hospital or a private mental hospital (or a combination of these facilities). Homes in which mentally ill or mentally handicapped people are accommodated and only occasional medical care is provided are not private hospitals.

Permission is granted to a specific natural or legal person. If the company is a partnership, each of the managing partners requires a license. The license is granted for an unlimited period, provided that no changes are made to the clinic premises or similar.

The competent authority must be notified immediately of any changes to the license granted.

The license does not replace other legally required permits and approvals.