ENKaiserslautern hospital, the city’s hospital in Rhineland-Palatinate, is run as Westpfalz-Klinikum GmbH, a company owned by the city and the districts of Kusel and Donnersbergkreis.
Two very different groups look for it: patients from abroad referred for treatment, and members of the large American community around Kaiserslautern, who need either the US military hospital or a German one. The section below on how the two differ covers the military hospital; German hospitals where English is easier are on our page on English-speaking hospitals in Germany.
About Westpfalz-Klinikum: Sites, Size and Status
Westpfalz-Klinikum has four sites in the Western Palatinate, almost 1,400 beds and around 4,000 staff, who treat around 150,000 patients a year. The main site in Kaiserslautern has around 30 clinics, institutes and departments. Kusel offers internal medicine, emergency and intensive care, orthopaedics with spine surgery, vascular medicine and early neurological rehabilitation. Kirchheimbolanden has internal medicine, surgery, trauma surgery, anaesthesia, gynaecology and obstetrics. Rockenhausen offers internal medicine with intensive care, cardiology, gastroenterology and geriatrics (care of older people); its inpatient internal medicine moves to Kirchheimbolanden in early 2027.
Kaiserslautern and Kusel together form a maximum-care hospital (Maximalversorgung), while Kirchheimbolanden and Rockenhausen provide basic care. Maximum care means treating almost all diseases, including severe and complex cases, and the central emergency department in Kaiserslautern is open around the clock. Westpfalz-Klinikum has been an academic teaching hospital of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz since 1977 and a teaching hospital of Heidelberg University’s Medical Faculty Mannheim since 2011. The hospital opened in 1893; Westpfalz-Klinikum GmbH was formed in 1996 by a merger with the Kusel district hospital, and the Donnersbergkreis hospital company joined in 2002.
Departments and Areas of Care
- Allgemein-, Viszeral-, Kinder- & Transplantationschirurgie — general, abdominal, paediatric and transplant surgery
- Herz-, Lungen- & Gefäßchirurgie — heart, lung and vascular surgery
- Innere Medizin 1: Hämatologie & Onkologie — blood diseases and cancer
- Innere Medizin 2: Kardiologie, Pneumologie, Angiologie & Intensivmedizin — heart, lungs, vessels, intensive care
- Innere Medizin 3: Gastroenterologie, Hepatologie & Internistische Geriatrie — digestion, liver, older patients
- Neurologie & Neurogeriatrie — brain and nerves, also in older people
- Neurochirurgie & Wirbelsäulenchirurgie — brain and spine surgery
- Unfallchirurgie, Orthopädie & Handchirurgie — injuries, bones, joints, hands
- Urologie & Kinderurologie — urology, also for children
- Frauenheilkunde & Geburtshilfe — gynaecology and childbirth
- Kinder- & Jugendmedizin — children and teenagers
- Strahlentherapie — radiotherapy
For adults, the hospital covers almost every field. Haematologists and oncologists treat blood diseases and cancer, cardiologists and heart surgeons the heart and blood vessels, neurologists mainly stroke, multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Trauma and orthopaedic surgeons help after accidents and with joint problems, gastroenterologists with stomach, bowel and liver disease, and nephrologists with kidney disease and high blood pressure.
The children’s hospital treats patients from babies to teenagers, with special fields in paediatric cardiology, neurology, gastroenterology and diabetes. Obstetricians deliver babies and, with the paediatricians, form a perinatal centre of the highest level for premature and newborn babies (Perinatalzentrum Level 1). The cancer centre (Onkologisches Zentrum Kaiserslautern) is certified by OnkoZert under the German Cancer Society’s system. Its stroke unit is certified as supra-regional (zertifizierte überregionale Stroke Unit), and its trauma centre is one of two certified supra-regional ones in the Palatinate trauma network (Überregionales Traumazentrum).
German Hospital or US Military Hospital: Which Is Which
Westpfalz-Klinikum is a German civilian hospital; Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, near Ramstein Air Base, is a separate US military hospital. The German hospital treats anyone who needs care, including US citizens and other foreign residents. The military hospital serves people entitled to US military health care, mainly service members and their families, under its own rules. A new US military hospital, Rhine Ordnance Barracks Medical Center, is being built near Ramstein to replace it. Billing and insurance also differ.
In a life-threatening emergency, call 112, the free round-the-clock number for the ambulance and fire service. The rescue service, not the patient, chooses the hospital: the crew knows which nearby one can handle the emergency. Ask your insurer or, if entitled to US military health care, the military medical service whether treatment at a German hospital is covered; this page cannot answer that. For a doctor who speaks English, see our page on English-speaking doctors in Germany.
Location and Stay
Kaiserslautern lies in the Palatinate, on the A6 motorway between Mannheim and Saarbrücken. The nearest large airport is Frankfurt; Luxembourg and Saarbrücken are also options. The hospital is about 1.5 kilometres from the railway station, with a change of bus at the town hall (Rathaus). Most rooms have two beds, some three; single rooms, when available, usually go to private patients or are booked as an elective service (Wahlleistung), which can also cover special room features and a special menu. Relatives can stay in the city’s hotels.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Kaiserslautern hospital a university hospital?
No. Westpfalz-Klinikum is a municipal hospital owned by the city of Kaiserslautern and two districts of the region. It trains medical students as an academic teaching hospital of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and a teaching hospital of Heidelberg University’s Medical Faculty Mannheim.
Is the Landstuhl military hospital the same as the Kaiserslautern hospital?
No. Westpfalz-Klinikum is a German civilian hospital in Kaiserslautern itself. Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, in nearby Landstuhl, is a US military hospital for people entitled to US military health care; a new military hospital is being built near Ramstein Air Base to replace it. In an emergency, call 112 either way.
Can Americans be treated at the Kaiserslautern hospital?
Yes. Like any German hospital, Westpfalz-Klinikum treats everyone who needs care, whatever their nationality, and its emergency department is open around the clock. Who pays for planned treatment depends on your cover: ask your insurer or, if you are entitled to US military health care, the military medical service.
How AlenMed Arranges Treatment at a Kaiserslautern Hospital
For planned treatment at Westpfalz-Klinikum, AlenMed translates the medical documents and scans into German and sends them to the hospital, which decides whether it can take the case and issues an estimate (Kostenvoranschlag). Our page on arranging treatment in Germany describes the process.
If the hospital agrees, the patient pays it directly and receives a visa invitation after the deposit; an interpreter attends consultations, and the patient is met at the airport. Westpfalz-Klinikum is not an AlenMed partner hospital. Our office is in Munich, our partner hospitals across Germany, and if a regional university hospital, such as University Hospital Homburg or the university medical centre among the hospitals in Mainz, suits the case better, we say so.
This material is for reference only and is not an offer. The treatment plan is decided by the doctor at a face-to-face consultation.