Health Minister Warken visits Wertheim: regional care in focus

Visit to the Main-Tauber district

Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) visited the Main-Tauber district on Saturday, 18 October 2025, and made it clear: regional, tailor-made solutions are the future of German healthcare.

One example is Wertheim – the town where the “Wertheim Model” is being implemented for the town’s hospital and which is also home to the Weight Doctors® Nationalklinik.

The “Wertheim Model”

The minister’s visit to the new Wertheim hospital was awaited with particular excitement. The “Wertheim Model” implemented there combines private financing with public support: the town of Wertheim has committed to contributing up to 2.75 million euros annually to cover the deficit in emergency care.

The minister praised this approach: “In Wertheim a model has now been found to keep the hospital alive, and in other places other models are found. We have to look very closely at what has a future for a region.”

The Weight Doctors® Nationalklinik in Wertheim

Specialised, tailor-made care is already a reality in Wertheim: between Frankfurt am Main and Würzburg, the Weight Doctors® group has based its Nationalklinik – a national obesity centre that puts into practice exactly what the minister describes: specialised medical care where it is needed.

The Nationalklinik belongs to an international group of clinics and centres for minimally invasive treatments for obesity and excess weight. At 23 locations in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Namibia, the Weight Doctors® offer the pathways of modern obesity treatment.

The range of treatments at the Nationalklinik

At the Nationalklinik, privately insured patients, patients with German statutory health insurance and self-pay patients are treated. Where there is a medical indication in line with the guidelines, patients are supported here on the way to stomach reduction or body contouring after major weight loss in such a way that there is a chance of cost coverage by the health insurer. The range includes:

What makes the Nationalklinik special

Diagnostics at the Nationalklinik include a 3D Bodyscan with SCANECA; the Weight Doctors® App with Bluetooth scales accompanies the time afterwards. For patients travelling from further afield, a shuttle from Frankfurt Airport can be arranged on request.

For every patient, the Weight Doctors® look for a path to long-term weight loss based on the personal weight-loss goal, habits and medical prerequisites. They are supported by Weight Doctors® 360° nutrition coaching and by Weight Doctors® Mira, who can be reached in the app around the clock in seven languages.

Working together on the care of tomorrow

The minister’s visit underlined the importance of regional approaches. There were no concrete commitments, but those involved judged the exchange to be very constructive. Frank Zils, managing director of the BBT Group, which runs the Caritas-Krankenhaus Bad Mergentheim, said: “We made clear that we are there as co-developers for solutions and are looking together at how we can build care for the future – especially in rural areas.”

This also applies to the Weight Doctors® Nationalklinik: as a specialised centre, it adds an important area to care in the region – the treatment of obesity and excess weight.

Wertheim as an example of specialised medicine

The minister’s visit shows: Wertheim has developed into an important healthcare location. With the new financing model for the town’s hospital and specialised facilities such as the Weight Doctors® Nationalklinik, the town shows how healthcare in rural areas can become fit for the future.

The combination of regional responsibility, private commitment and specialised medicine could be a model for other regions – very much in the minister’s spirit: setting up hospitals precisely as they are needed in the region.