ENThe main Bremerhaven hospital is the municipal Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide: this port city at the mouth of the Weser, part of the federal state of Bremen, also has a general hospital run by the private AMEOS group, and both serve the city and the coastal region.
This page covers which hospitals Bremerhaven has and who owns them, what they treat, when a complex case is better sent to Bremen or Hamburg, and how a patient from abroad arranges treatment.
Hospitals in Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven’s main hospitals are the municipal Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide and the private AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven. Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide is owned by the city of Bremerhaven and describes itself as a maximum-care hospital (Maximalversorger), the highest level of hospital care in Germany, and as the largest hospital in the Lower Weser region. It is an academic teaching hospital of the University of Göttingen: medical students train there.
AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven, also known as Klinikum Am Bürgerpark, is in the Geestemünde district and belongs to AMEOS, a private hospital group. The group’s former AMEOS Klinikum Mitte in the city centre now operates as an outpatient surgery centre, AMEOS Ambulantes Klinikum Bremerhaven, where operations are done without a hospital stay.
Readers who mean the former US Army hospital in Bremerhaven, which many American military families remember, should note that it was a hospital of the US forces for service members and their families, not part of German civilian care, and it no longer operates as a hospital. Patients in Bremerhaven today are treated in the hospitals named above.
What Bremerhaven Hospitals Cover
Bremerhaven hospitals mainly cover emergency care and internal medicine. Both hospitals have an emergency department (Klinik für Akut- und Notfallmedizin), which matters for seafarers, port workers and visitors. In internal medicine, Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide has cardiology and nephrology (kidney medicine), gastroenterology and oncology, neurology and acute geriatrics, while AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven offers gastroenterology, haematology and oncology, and pulmonology. How urgent admission works for a patient who is still abroad is explained on the page on emergency treatment in Germany.
Surgery is available at both hospitals, while the maternity unit and the children’s clinic are at the municipal one. Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide has general, abdominal and vascular surgery, trauma surgery and orthopaedics with hand and plastic surgery, and neurosurgery with spinal surgery, as well as obstetrics, gynaecology and a clinic for children and adolescents that includes neonatology, the care of newborns. At AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven, orthopaedic and trauma surgeons, general and abdominal surgeons, and thoracic and spinal surgeons operate, and its urologists treat both adults and children.
Both hospitals have certified centres, which they list themselves. Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide states that its breast, bowel and skin cancer centres are certified by the German Cancer Society (DKG), the breast centre also by the German Society for Senology, which deals with breast disease, and that it has certified centres for injuries in older people and for multiple sclerosis. AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven lists a certified joint replacement centre and a certified sleep laboratory.
When Bremen or Hamburg Fits Better
Bremen or Hamburg fits better when a case needs a larger hospital: a rare disease, complex surgery or a transplant are reasons to look beyond a general hospital. Bremen’s largest hospital has its own page, Klinikum Bremen-Mitte.
UKE Hamburg (Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf) is the university hospital of Hamburg; it was founded in 1889 and has more than 1,730 beds. Other hospitals in the city are described on the page on hospitals in Hamburg.
Asklepios Clinic St. Georg in Hamburg is an academic teaching hospital of the University of Hamburg.
What a Patient from Abroad Should Prepare
A patient from abroad should prepare translated medical records: discharge reports, CT and MRI scans on disc with their reports, the histology report (the examination of tissue under a microscope) if there is one, and a list of current medication with doses.
Admission is decided by the hospital itself once its doctors have reviewed the records. A self-paying patient pays the hospital directly against its cost estimate (Kostenvoranschlag), which the hospital draws up for the planned treatment.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the largest hospital in Bremerhaven?
The largest is the municipal Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide, which describes itself as the largest hospital in the Lower Weser region and as a maximum-care hospital. It has an emergency department, surgery, a maternity unit, a children’s clinic and certified cancer centres. The city’s other general hospital is the private AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven in Geestemünde, whose departments include urology and a joint replacement centre.
Where are babies delivered and children treated in Bremerhaven?
Babies are delivered at the municipal Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide, which has the maternity unit, gynaecology and a clinic for children and adolescents that includes neonatology, the care of newborns. At the private AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven, children are treated by urologists and orthopaedic surgeons in its paediatric urology and paediatric orthopaedics. As with adults, the hospital decides on admitting a child from abroad after reviewing the translated records.
Where is cancer treated in Bremerhaven?
Cancer is treated at both general hospitals in the city. Klinikum Bremerhaven-Reinkenheide has a clinic for gastroenterology and oncology, radiotherapy and certified breast, bowel and skin cancer centres. AMEOS Klinikum Bremerhaven has haematology and oncology with a palliative care ward, and a prostate cancer centre. For a rare tumour or a complex operation, it makes sense to send the records to a university hospital as well, for example in Hamburg.
Do Bremerhaven hospitals accept patients from abroad?
Yes, a patient from abroad can apply, but the hospital itself decides on a planned admission after reviewing the translated discharge reports, scans and histology. A self-paying patient pays the hospital directly against its estimate. Bremerhaven hospitals are not among AlenMed’s partner hospitals: the company prepares and sends the enquiry to the right department and, for a complex case, also to a partner hospital in Hamburg.
How AlenMed Arranges Treatment in Bremerhaven
AlenMed translates the medical records and sends the enquiry to the right department in Bremerhaven or, if the case needs a university hospital, to a partner hospital in Hamburg. The full process is described on the page on arranging treatment in Germany.
Once a hospital agrees to admit the patient, AlenMed requests the cost estimate and the invitation for the visa, provides an interpreter for consultations and helps with accommodation for the patient and companions. The company’s office is in Munich, and its partner hospitals are located across Germany.
This material is for reference only and is not an offer. The treatment plan is decided by a doctor at a face-to-face consultation.