Eastern Germany's First Family-Centered Pediatric Heart Clinic Opens in Strausberg

Strausberg/Berlin (dpa) – A new rehabilitation clinic for children with heart conditions and their families in Strausberg, Brandenburg, aims to fill a critical gap in eastern Germany. According to the German Pension Insurance (Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund), the Straussee Aftercare Clinic is the only facility in the eastern states offering family-centered rehabilitation—an approach that integrates the entire family into the child's recovery process.

Initially, the clinic will focus on pediatric cardiology, with plans to expand into pediatric oncology in the future, the facility announced. Located just east of Berlin, it will provide much-needed care in a region previously without such specialized services.

Currently, Germany has only a handful of clinics offering family-based rehabilitation for children with serious illnesses. For young heart patients, options are limited to facilities in Tannheim near Villingen-Schwenningen and Katharinenhöhe in Schönwald/Black Forest (both in Baden-Württemberg), as well as Bad Oexen near Bad Oeynhausen (North Rhine-Westphalia), according to the Federal Association for Children with Heart Disease (Bundesverband Herzkranke Kinder). Children with cancer can also receive treatment at the Sylt Clinic in Schleswig-Holstein.

Whole Families Receive Treatment Together

The clinic's model ensures that the entire family of a seriously ill child is included in the rehabilitation process. Until now, eastern Germany had no facilities offering this type of family-oriented rehab, according to both the German Pension Insurance and the new clinic. Once fully operational, the Strausberg center will be able to accommodate around 600 families per year. Nationwide, waiting times for such programs have reached up to two years.

Brandenburg's Health Minister René Wilke (SPD) hailed the new clinic as a "beacon of hope.""This is a place of hope, confidence, and renewed strength—especially for children and adolescents with heart conditions and their families, who, after long and difficult journeys, will also receive therapeutic support here," Wilke said. "Only five clinics across Germany offer this vital service, and this is the first and only one in the eastern part of the country."

The Straussee Aftercare Clinic is a wholly owned subsidiary of Milaa gGmbH, itself part of the Evangelical Diakonie Association Berlin-Zehlendorf. Construction costs for the facility amounted to €25 million, fully covered by the Peter and Ingeborg Fritz Foundation, a nonprofit organization. An additional €12 million was allocated for equipment and staff, primarily funded by GLS Bank. The state of Brandenburg approved a €7.2 million guarantee to support the project.