Procedure descriptions

Apply for a grant for a rural doctor

As a GP, you will receive up to EUR 30,000 in state funding.

This applies if you set up in a rural community in Baden-Württemberg where GP care is not guaranteed or will no longer be guaranteed in the near future.

The following can be subsidised

  • the takeover of an existing practice
  • the establishment of a new practice
  • the establishment of a branch practice
  • the employment of a doctor

Responsible authority

the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Social Affairs

Ministerium für Soziales, Arbeit und Gesundheit Baden-Württemberg

Hausanschrift

Else-Josenhans-Straße 6
70173 Stuttgart
To the electronic timetable information

Contact

Telefon 0711 123-0
Fax 0711 123-3999
E-Mail poststelle@sm.bwl.de
Servicekonto Sichere Servicekonto-Nachricht über service-bw.de senden

Details

Prerequisite

You intend to take up a contract doctor's activity in a funding area of the Rural Doctors funding programme. No distinction is made between self-employment and employment.

Assisted areas are municipalities in which general practitioner care is not guaranteed or will not be guaranteed in the near future.

In detail, you must

  • obtain a licence in an assisted area (or your employee(s)) as
    • General practitioner,
    • Paediatrician
    • a family doctor internist or family doctor internist
  • receive authorisation from the Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians when setting up a branch practice ("secondary establishment") and
  • start working as a general practitioner, paediatrician or internist in the eligible area within six months of the decision under licensing law and
  • participate in the telematics infrastructure or provide proof of connection to the telematics infrastructure and
  • have the willingness to actively participate in any existing cross-sectoral care services or models in the authorisation area.

Procedure

1. Application form

  • Use the online application form.
  • You will receive a confirmation of receipt in your service account mailbox.
  • The responsible office will then communicate with you by e-mail or via the service account in the event of any further queries.

2. Grant notification

  • If you fulfil the funding requirements and have not yet used up all the funding, you will receive a grant notification by e-mail or post.
  • The responsible body will then recognise which of your intended expenses can be funded, e.g. practice purchase, practice equipment, IT expenses.

3. Start of the project

  • As soon as you have received the notification, you may conclude service contracts such as rental agreements, purchase agreements or employment contracts.

4. Call for funds

  • As a rule, you can have the grant paid out within 9 months of the start of the project. To do this, fill out the "Request for funds" form you received with the grant notification. Send this to the responsible office by post or e-mail together with the required documents.
  • In this way, you can prove that you have actually fulfilled the funding requirements specified in the funding application.
  • The responsible office will check these documents and transfer the money to you.

5. Proof of utilisation

  • Once you have incurred the expenditure, you must submit the original invoice by post or, if you only have it electronically, by e-mail to the responsible body to prove the amount and purpose of the costs you have incurred.
  • The responsible body will check in particular whether these expenses are the eligible costs recognised by the approval notice.
  • If you have any queries, the responsible office will contact you.

Deadlines

There is no deadline. Apply for the rural doctor grant at least four weeks before you conclude service contracts.

Please note:

You will not receive funding if you have signed service contracts before you receive the grant notification. Service contracts are, for example, practice takeover, purchase, rental or labour or employment contracts.

Required documents

for the online application: none

for the subsequent call for funds:

  • Approval notice for your municipality
  • Lease or purchase agreement for your practice
  • Proof of third-party funding if you are also receiving financial support or funding from a third party to start working as a contract doctor,
  • Employment contract if the employment of a doctor is to be subsidised

Costs

none

Processing time

about four weeks, in individual cases even longer

Miscellaneous

Grants from the state are voluntary benefits to which you have no legal entitlement.

Legal basis

Landeshaushaltsordnung (LHO):

  • § 23 Zuwendungen
  • § 44 Zuwendungen, Verwaltung von Mitteln oder Vermögensgegenständen

Release note

machine generated, based on the German release by: Sozialministerium Baden-Württemberg, 03.02.2025