BR investigation finds serious failings at two rehabilitation clinics

Patients have made serious allegations about a geriatric rehabilitation clinic in Bruckmühl, while another clinic operated by the same group in Lenggries was closed after similar failings. The BR reports that prosecutors have been investigating the Lenggries clinic since 2023.

Agathe Petersen, 68, has bowel cancer and a stoma. She agreed to an interview under a different name and described conditions at the Bruckmühl clinic in July 2026 as unbearable. She said she repeatedly called for staff before her surgical wounds were examined on the third day. Staff then reportedly told her that the wounds did not look good.

Petersen said no one cared for her stoma and that she did not receive the special diet she had been prescribed. After leaving the rehabilitation clinic after four days, she weighed about 36 kilograms when admitted to Wolfratshausen hospital the following day.

BR reporters spoke with numerous senior citizens, relatives and former employees about the Bruckmühl clinic. They described alleged failings between 2023 and July 2026, supported by documents and hospital records reviewed by BR. Interviews for the ARD political magazine report München presented a similar picture.

Patients and their families criticised medical care, saying some seniors were in worse condition after rehabilitation than before. They reported problems with wound and stoma care, missing or incorrect medication, missing medication and shortcomings in medical and nursing care. They also described staff shortages and long delays in responding to call bells. Many treatments were reportedly cancelled, while the food was described as insufficient and poor in quality, with generally only one meal option for all patients.

The company operating the clinic, Geriatrische Rehabilitation Oberbayern Bruckmühl GmbH, commissioned a crisis communications agency to respond to BR. The agency rejected allegations, particularly those concerning medication and excessive response times to patient calls. Its representative said there had been no structurally caused harm to patients or operation that endangered patients. The representative also pointed to investments and changes to processes and structures, saying these efforts had resulted in a sustainably functioning geriatric rehabilitation clinic in Bruckmühl.

The Rosenheim district office inspected the clinic in 2023 after pressure from the Bavarian health ministry and the government of Upper Bavaria. The office said the inspection confirmed reduced staffing and shortcomings in medical and nursing care. The clinic was then subjected to an admissions freeze and its number of beds was temporarily reduced.

The district office said in July 2026 that routine inspections were carried out regularly, most recently in spring, and that no irregularities had been found. It said the clinic management had responded promptly to individual patient complaints. BR, however, reviewed a complaint from a family dated April 2026 concerning severe diarrhoea at the clinic. According to the complaint, an elderly patient received no help for three days and no protective measures against infection were taken.

In August 2026, the district office told BR that no action had been required after an unannounced routine inspection in spring. A second geriatric rehabilitation clinic operated by the company in Lenggries was first closed in 2023. The Munich II public prosecutor’s office has been investigating since then.