He was the founder of Germany's largest family-owned hospital operator. Asklepios partner Bernard Große Broermann has now died at the age of 80.
The founder and partner of the Asklepios Clinics, Bernard Große Broermann, is dead. He died on Sunday at the age of 80, the company announced on Tuesday in Hamburg. Große Broermann founded the Asklepios Kliniken Group in 1985 and made it Germany's largest family-owned hospital operator. According to the company, Asklepios now looks after more than 3.5 million patients per year with around 68,000 employees in around 170 medical facilities.
“We mourn with the family of Dr. Bernard Große Broermann, to whom we express our deepest sympathy and sincere condolences on behalf of the company and all employees,” said the CEO of the Asklepios Group, Joachim Gemmel. Co-CEO Marco Walker emphasized that Broermann's great influence on the healthcare system in Germany “cannot be overestimated.”
Asklepios remains in the family
The acquisition of the majority stake in the then state hospital company in Hamburg in 2005, today's Asklepios Kliniken Hamburg GmbH, was of crucial importance for the development of the group. Hamburg's mayor Ole von Beust (CDU) sold the state company against the will of the population, as almost 77 percent voted against selling the state company in a referendum that was not legally binding at the time. Today, Asklepios Kliniken Hamburg GmbH includes the Altona, Barmbek, Harburg, St. Georg, Wandsbek, Rissen and Nord hospitals with the Heidberg, Ochsenzoll and Wandsbek locations.
In 2011, the group took over the majority of the listed MediClin AG and in 2020 the majority of the also listed Rhön Klinikum AG. Große Broermann, born on November 20, 1943 in Damme, Lower Saxony, initially studied medicine and chemistry before devoting himself to business administration and law.
According to the company, Broermann has ensured that the Asklepios Group remains permanently in family ownership. All investments have been pooled in Broermann Holding GmbH, in which a committee made up of family members and confidants will protect the shareholder interests in the future. In the list of the richest Germans, “Manager Magazin” recently ranked Broermann in 78th place with assets of around three billion euros.
