Flower delivery to
Baselland Bruderholz Cantonal Hospital

Due to the increasing population in the canton of Basel-Landschaft and waiting lists in the Laufen and Liestal hospitals, the joint expert commission for hospital issues BS/BL submitted a proposal in 1962 to start planning a district hospital in the lower part of the canton (Birseck). In 1965, at the request of the government council, the district administrator approved a preliminary project for a hospital in the Bruderholz region with around 520 beds. In 1968, the expert commission recommended that the first stage of construction should begin as soon as possible; 1 year later - on January 9, 1969 - the district administrator approved a construction loan for 112.5 million Swiss francs with a vote of 64 to 0. On October 15, 1973, the affectionately named “Bruderholz”, which ultimately cost around 160 million Swiss francs, was opened and was fully operational by 1975.

In 1996, the University of Basel appointed the then chief physician at the Bruderholzspital, Hans Kummer, as a full professor of internal medicine, which led to the Bruderholzspital becoming the first university clinic outside the canton of Basel-Stadt. In 2016 the women's clinic was closed; The Bethesda Hospital in Basel took on a large part of the staff and the University Hospital Basel also increased its capacities. In 2017, the Bruderholz initiative, which would have enshrined the preservation of “extended basic care” at the Bruderholz site in the hospital law of the canton of Basel-Landschaft, was rejected with 67.2% of the vote.

In 2012, the hospital operations were spun off from the cantonal administration and the “Kantonsspital Baselland KSBL” was created as an independent public institution with an administrative board through the merger of the previously integrated Liestal, Bruderholz and Laufen hospitals.

Since the closure of the Breitenbach district hospital, just 3.7 km away, the Laufen cantonal hospital has experienced an upswing. However, the future was also uncertain, as the University Hospital of Basel (USB) (661 beds) and the Cantonal Hospital of Bruderholz (398 beds) were also competing for patients. Therefore, a state contract to form a joint hospital group between the USB and the KSBL was signed in 2018.