Asklepios mourns its founder and shareholder Dr. Bernard große Broermann

“We join his family in mourning Dr. Bernard große Broermann and we extend our deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to them on behalf of the company and all of its employees. With his vision and his entrepreneurial spirit, Dr. Bernard große Broermann had a huge impact not only on the Asklepios Group, but on the entire German healthcare sector for many decades. We are greatly indebted to him. We have lost an outstanding personality and a great person,” says Joachim Gemmel, CEO of the Asklepios Group.

Marco Walker, CEO of the Asklepios Group, adds: “It is impossible to overstate the influence Dr. Bernard große Broermann had on healthcare in Germany. His passion and his commitment to healthcare and social responsibility set standards that go far beyond the boundaries of the Asklepios Group.”

Dr. große Broermann was born in Damme on 20 November 1943 and demonstrated considerable entrepreneurial talent even at a young age. His studies laid the foundations for the success he would later enjoy. In his impressive academic career, he initially started to study medicine and chemistry before switching to and graduating in business administration and law. His academic excellence and entrepreneurial spirit took him from the INSEAD European management school in Fontainebleau to Harvard Business School, graduating with the highest honours. He began his career with Ernst & Whinney (now Ernst & Young) before working as an independent lawyer and auditor. 

However, the foundation of the Asklepios Kliniken Group in 1985 and its subsequent expansion would prove to be his life’s work and his most important business achievement. The acquisition of a majority interest in the former Hamburg state hospitals (“Landesbetrieb Krankenhäuser”) in 2005, now Asklepios Kliniken Hamburg GmbH, was a key event in the Group’s development. A majority interest in the listed MediClin AG followed in 2011. Finally, the Group acquired a majority interest in the listed Rhön-Klinikum AG in 2020, giving it an interest in the only private operator of a university hospital in Germany, the University Hospital of Giessen and Marburg (UKGM). Today, Asklepios looks after more than 3.5 million patients every year at around 170 medical facilities and has over 68,000 employees. 

Bernard große Broermann’s commitment extended beyond entrepreneurship. Reflecting his deep-rooted passion for promoting advances in medicine, last year he created the Broermann Innovation Prize for Medicine, an international award endowed with one million euros which will be presented annually. The award represents another important legacy of Bernard große Broermann and underlines his unstinting desire to reward and support ground-breaking medical achievements. This mindset is also illustrated by the title of his autobiography, published in 2023, entitled “Leidenschaft für Gesundheit” (A Passion for Health). 

Looking to the future of the company, Bernard große Broermann gradually handed over the operational management of the Asklepios hospitals to an experienced management team in order to increasingly dedicate himself to his role as shareholder. Dr. Bernard große Broermann ensured that the Asklepios Group will remain in family ownership after his own death, continuing to exist as a single entity with the ability to act and take decisions in its own right at all times. This was a matter of great importance to him and epitomises his understanding of entrepreneurial responsibility. All of the shareholdings have therefore been pooled in Broermann Holding GmbH, where a committee of family members and trusted individuals he knew for many years will protect the interests of the shareholders and ensure that Bernard große Broermann’s vision is carried forward into the future.