Institutional healthcare differentiates between service providers in the inpatient sector and those in the outpatient sector. The former comprises inpatient departments in hospitals, nursing homes for the elderly and “specialised institutions” for those with disabilities, psychosocial issues or addiction problems. In 2018, nursing homes provided the greatest capacity with 99,622 beds, followed by hospitals with 37,956 beds. The outpatient sector is made up of many different service providers. These include, in particular, non-inpatient services in hospitals, private medical or dental practices and various paramedical services.

Hospitals

In 2018, 281 companies were found to provide treatment at 580 locations. There are a particularly large number of locations in the densely populated cantons of Bern, Zurich and Vaud. Of the 102 hospital companies providing general care, 44 provided major medical services (university hospitals and large cantonal hospitals) and 58 provided basic services (regional hospitals and other smaller hospitals). The 179 specialist clinics in Switzerland include 50 psychiatric clinics, 54 rehabilitation clinics and 75 other clinics. In 2018, a total of 216,722 people worked in hospitals, translating to 168,372 full-time equivalent (FTE) workers, 77% of whom were working in general care hospitals. Of the staff, 14% are doctors, 41% nurses, 15% other medical professionals and 30% work in central services.

Nursing homes

Nursing homes provide somatic geriatric care for people with age-related physical ailments or psychogeriatric care for mentally impaired elderly people. They offer services in the areas of housing, meals, care and day-to-day activities. As of 2018, there were a total of 1,566 nursing homes in Switzerland. Each nursing home offered an average of 61 places, ranging anywhere from one offering just under ten accommodation places through to large enterprises with more than 300 places and an almost hospital-like infrastructure. As of 2018, 134,433 people were working in nursing homes, which corresponds to 96,453 full-time positions (FTE). The proportion of women was 80% and the proportion of part-time workers is also relatively high.

Help and care at home (Spitex)

The core tasks of Spitex include the provision of nursing care, housekeeping and social care services as well as the home meals service. Of the 2,168 service providers surveyed in 2018, 27% were public or non-profit organisations. Self-employed care professionals accounted for 51% of the service providers and the remaining 22% were profit-oriented private companies. There are 23,554 full-time positions available for local services. In western parts of the country, Spitex coverage is generally higher than in the rest of Switzerland. Since 2002, the number of people employed by Spitex services has steadily increased.

Doctor’s surgeries and outpatient centres

Doctor’s surgeries and outpatient centres are the first point of contact for the population for all matters relating to general healthcare. As of 2017, 17,560 doctor’s surgeries and outpatient centres provided medical services at a total of 17,860 locations and employed 24,424 doctors (17,774 FTE). 58,824 non-medical staff were employed in doctor’s surgeries and outpatient centres (26,254 FTE).

Dental care

As of 2018, dental care was provided by 4,337 dentists, corresponding to 51 dentists per 100,000 residents.