St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen

St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen GmbH is a Catholic service group for medicine, care and education (Medizin, Pflege und Pädagogik) based in Gelsenkirchen in Germany's Ruhr region. It traces its origins to the social and charitable work of the Catholic parish of St. Augustinus, whose first major institution was the Marienhospital, built and operated from 1869. For more than a century the parish's elected church council members carried responsibility for these institutions on an honorary basis; on 1 August 1996 the St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen GmbH was founded to take over that role, with 97 percent of the shares remaining with the parish and 3 percent held by the Caritas-Trägerwerk of the Diocese of Essen. The company describes itself as a "starker Leistungsverbund" — a strong performance network — for medicine, care and education, and as an engaged employer. According to its own information it employs around 4,500 skilled staff at more than fifteen locations in Gelsenkirchen, Gladbeck and Bottrop-Kirchhellen, operating ten operating companies (Betriebsgesellschaften) that include hospitals, senior citizens' facilities and kindergartens. Its hospital arm includes the Marienhospital Gelsenkirchen, the largest acute and accident hospital in the city with 568 beds and an academic teaching hospital of the Ruhr University Bochum; the Sankt Marien-Hospital Buer, in operation since 1867 with 257 beds; the Elisabeth-Krankenhaus in Gelsenkirchen-Erle; and the Katholische Kliniken Emscher-Lippe, formed in 1999 from the merger of several hospitals in the region. Alongside acute medicine, the group runs senior homes and care facilities such as St. Josef and St. Hedwig, children's and youth services including the Kinder- und Jugendhaus St. Elisabeth and the Arche Noah short-term facility and hospice for children, and educational institutions such as the Kirchliches Bildungszentrum für Gesundheitsberufe im Revier (KBG). In February 2023 it was announced that St. Augustinus GmbH would form a joint holding with the Katholischer Klinikverbund Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbH (KKRN), bringing 20 operating companies under one roof. The combined network operates under the KERN Katholische Einrichtungen Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbH umbrella, which describes itself as a performance network for medicine, care and education with around 7,500 skilled staff at roughly forty locations across Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum-Wattenscheid, Gladbeck, Bottrop-Kirchhellen, Herten-Westerholt, Dorsten, Marl and Haltern am See. The group's guiding motto is "kompetent. professionell. einfach menschlich!" (competent, professional, simply human), and it presents itself as a service community oriented to Christian values and the Catholic view of humanity. St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen remains a church-affiliated, privately held group rather than a listed company. Its ownership is anchored in the parish, and its history is presented as an example of the church's presence in everyday life — "Medizin mit Menschlichkeit" (medicine with humanity).

The roots of St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen lie in the social and charitable engagement of the Catholic parish of St. Augustinus in Gelsenkirchen. A key crystallisation point came with the construction and operation of the first Marienhospital in 1869, which gave the parish's charitable work a lasting institutional anchor in the city. Further services and institutions for the elderly and for children and young people followed, and cooperation with other parishes — among them St. Urbanus in Gelsenkirchen-Buer, St. Hippolytus in Gelsenkirchen-Horst and St. Lamberti in Gladbeck — gradually produced a performance network for medicine, care and education that by 2023 ranked among the largest employers in the region. Until 1996, honorary members of the church council of the St. Augustinus parish carried responsibility for the institutions. On 1 August 1996 the St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen GmbH was founded to take over that role. 97 percent of the shares of the umbrella company remained in the hands of the parish, while 3 percent were held by the Caritas-Trägerwerk of the Diocese of Essen. In the same year, the Marienhospital Gelsenkirchen GmbH was founded as an operating company, and the St. Augustinus Heime GmbH was also established as an operating company. From 1999 to the diocesan structural reform of 2007, the Liebfrauengemeinde in Gelsenkirchen-Neustadt was a co-shareholder of the St. Augustinus Heime GmbH. When that parish was merged into the new large St. Augustinus parish, the shares were consolidated in the latter's hands. Also in 1999, the Katholische Kliniken Emscher-Lippe (KKEL) were created through the merger of the St. Josef-Hospital in Gelsenkirchen-Horst, the St. Barbara-Hospital in Gladbeck, the St. Antonius-Krankenhaus in Bottrop-Kirchhellen, and the St. Hedwig-Hospital with the Seniorenzentrum St. Hedwig in Gelsenkirchen-Resse. As part of a restructuring, the St. Hedwig-Hospital was closed at the end of 2005 and the Seniorenzentrum St. Hedwig was expanded. Since the beginning of 2018, the sponsor of the Katholische Kliniken Emscher-Lippe GmbH has been the St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen GmbH. In 2001 the Arche Noah — a short-term facility and hospice for children with 14 care places — was opened at the Marienhospital. In 2003 the hospital's nursing and paediatric nursing school was transferred into the Kirchliches Bildungszentrum für Gesundheitsberufe im Revier (KBG GmbH), in which the Marienhospital Gelsenkirchen GmbH holds shares. In 2007 the Sankt Marien-Hospital Buer GmbH was admitted as the fourth operating company into the St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen group and has since been closely linked with the Marienhospital Gelsenkirchen. In the same year, the Propsteipfarrei St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen established the St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen Stiftung, to which it transferred the operating properties contractually made available to the companies of St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen GmbH. Since July 2015, the institutions of the Elisabeth-Stift katholische caritative GmbH have been integrated under the roof of St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen into a system of service companies in the social and healthcare sector. On 1 January 2021, St. Augustinus Energie GmbH was founded as an operating company, with the central task of supplying the group's operating companies with energy such as electricity and gas. In February 2023 it was announced that St. Augustinus GmbH would establish a joint holding with the Katholischer Klinikverbund Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbH (KKRN), bringing 20 operating companies together under one roof. The combined network operates under the KERN Katholische Einrichtungen Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbH umbrella, which describes itself as a strong performance network for medicine, care and education and as an engaged employer of around 7,500 skilled staff at roughly forty locations in Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum-Wattenscheid, Gladbeck, Bottrop-Kirchhellen, Herten-Westerholt, Dorsten, Marl and Haltern am See. The KERN network's institutions include eleven hospitals, three care facilities, nine educational institutions and around thirty outpatient medical facilities, and it presents itself as a service community oriented to Christian values and the Catholic view of humanity, with the guiding motto "kompetent. professionell. einfach menschlich!".

• 2023

  In February, St. Augustinus GmbH announces a joint holding with KKRN, grouping 20 operating companies under one roof.

• 2021

  St. Augustinus Energie GmbH is founded on 1 January to supply the group's operating companies with energy.

• 2018

  St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen GmbH becomes the sponsor of Katholische Kliniken Emscher-Lippe GmbH.

• 2015

  In July, the institutions of Elisabeth-Stift katholische caritative GmbH are integrated under the St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen roof.

• 2007

  Sankt Marien-Hospital Buer GmbH joins the group as the fourth operating company; the St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen Stiftung is established; the Diocese of Essen's parish structural reform consolidates shares in the new St. Augustinus parish.

• 2005

  St. Hedwig-Hospital is closed at the end of the year as part of a restructuring; the Seniorenzentrum St. Hedwig is expanded.

• 2003

  The Marienhospital's nursing school is transferred into the Kirchliches Bildungszentrum für Gesundheitsberufe im Revier (KBG GmbH).

• 2001

  Arche Noah, a short-term facility and hospice for children with 14 care places, opens.

• 1999

  Katholische Kliniken Emscher-Lippe (KKEL) are formed through the merger of several hospitals; the Liebfrauengemeinde becomes a co-shareholder of St. Augustinus Heime GmbH.

• 1996

  St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen GmbH is founded on 1 August; Marienhospital Gelsenkirchen GmbH and St. Augustinus Heime GmbH are established as operating companies.

• 1869

  The first Marienhospital is built and operated by the St. Augustinus parish in Gelsenkirchen.

• 1867

  Sankt Marien-Hospital Buer begins operation.

Catholic, values-driven healthcare, elderly-care and education network in the northern Ruhr, guided by the motto "kompetent. professionell. einfach menschlich!" and the principle of "Medizin mit Menschlichkeit".

• Marienhospital Gelsenkirchen

  Largest acute and accident hospital in Gelsenkirchen with 568 beds, twelve clinics and around 1,300 staff; academic teaching hospital of the Ruhr University Bochum.

• Sankt Marien-Hospital Buer

  In operation since 1867, with 257 beds across seven clinics; active in further education and scientific studies.

• Elisabeth-Krankenhaus Gelsenkirchen-Erle

  Operated by Elisabeth-Krankenhaus GmbH, with acute geriatrics and early rehabilitation as well as psychiatry and psychotherapy, totalling 223 beds.

• Katholische Kliniken Emscher-Lippe (KKEL)

  Formed in 1999 from the merger of several hospitals; around 30,000 inpatients and 18,000 outpatient examinations and treatments per year.

• Arche Noah

  Short-term facility and hospice for children with 14 care places, opened in 2001.

• Kinder- und Jugendhaus St. Elisabeth

  Offers 70 inpatient places, including 54 regular places, twelve intensive places for boys, four low-supervision places and flexible aftercare.

• Alten- und Pflegeheim St. Josef

  More than 93 places, mostly single rooms, for inpatient and short-term care.

• Kirchliches Bildungszentrum für Gesundheitsberufe im Revier (KBG)

  Education centre for health professions into which the Marienhospital's nursing school was transferred in 2003.

• St. Augustinus Energie GmbH

  Founded on 1 January 2021 to supply the group's operating companies with energy such as electricity and gas.

1. 1KERN: Herzlich willkommen | KERN Katholische Einrichtungen Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbHkern.ruhr
2. 2Über uns | KERN Katholische Einrichtungen Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbHkern.ruhr
3. 3Unsere Gesellschafter | KERN Katholische Einrichtungen Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbHkern.ruhr
4. 4Unsere Struktur | KERN Katholische Einrichtungen Ruhrgebiet Nord GmbHkern.ruhr
5. 5St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen (Wikidata)wikidata.org
6. 6St. Augustinus Gelsenkirchen (Wikipedia, German)de.wikipedia.org