One of the items on the agenda of Thursday’s session of the Bolesławiec County Council was a report by the director of the Bolesławiec Healthcare Complex on the hospital’s financial and organizational situation.

The head of the ZOZ Adam Zdaniuk informed the councillors that the facility’s result at the end of 2018 was approximately PLN -1.7 million and that it had remained at the planned level—below the value of depreciation.

This was the hospital’s first negative financial result in 11 years. The director explained that this was primarily due to pay regulations implemented centrally by the Ministry of Health, as well as the insufficient valuation of healthcare services, which remains at the 2015 level despite increases in, among other things, energy prices, the prices of goods and services, and labor costs.

A. Zdaniuk spoke about local-government subsidies and investment projects completed in 2018. He listed the most important tasks facing the facility this year:

  • expansion of the operating block— a strategic investment.
  • purchase of a new ambulance (Director: “Our fleet is falling apart in a dramatic way”)
  • partial replacement of equipment in the Hospital Emergency Department
  • replacement of IT equipment.

The first investment is, of course, the most important, because it will increase the number of operating rooms and, consequently, the number of operations. (It is estimated that the ZOZ will perform approximately 1,000 more each year.)

“We are doing everything to ensure that the loss does not exceed the value of depreciation,” emphasized the head of the county hospital.

According to Adam Zdaniuk, if health policy continues to be conducted in this manner, weaker entities will disappear from the medical services market. “This is probably the assumption at the Ministry of Health; I can find no other explanation here,” he added.

He also pointed out that all hospitals, perhaps apart from teaching hospitals, are currently facing enormous problems. The losses of some are several times greater than their depreciation. As the director emphasized, the Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship provides PLN 38 million in additional funding for regional hospitals... for the amount exceeding depreciation.

Are there ways to improve the hospital’s condition?

The director wants the National Health Fund to expand the county hospital’s neurology contract. (A fully-fledged stroke unit would then be established.)

Furthermore, Adam Zdaniuk proposed that the head of the Lwówek hospital consider the possibility of forming a consortium. This would provide both facilities with a higher level of reference. As the director stressed, hospitals in Germany operate in this way.

Among those who spoke in the discussion was former county head and current opposition councillor, Karol Stasik, who stated that the financial crisis affected all hospitals (“All hospitals are in total disarray”). He appealed to the Law and Justice councillors who share governing power in Bolesławiec County to influence those in power nationally, because “healthcare has been left to lie fallow.”

The discussion was joined by Waldemar Krysztofiak of PiS, who said that he had recently discussed the condition of the Bolesławiec hospital with Senator Rafał Ślusarz. He said that the parliamentarian was familiar with the situation of our facility. The senator reportedly stated that the best course for the Bolesławiec ZOZ would be to continue developing.

What do you think? We invite you to join the discussion.