For several months, plans to merge the hospitals in Bolesławiec and Zgorzelec have been known. Now, however, it is possible for the first time to see the details in the official draft agreement obtained by portal istotne.pl. The document shows not only how the new entity will be created, but also the specific legal, financial and organizational consequences—including potential risks to the operation of the hospitals and the availability of treatment.
One hospital instead of two—and one shared responsibility
The new entity will take over everything—from medical equipment and buildings to money in bank accounts, contracts with the National Health Fund (NFZ) and all financial liabilities. This means that from the moment of the merger there will no longer be two independent hospitals, but one shared organization.
In practice, this also means that the financial situations of both facilities will be combined. If one of them has higher debt, it will become a liability of the new hospital as a whole.
Key problem: decisions only with the consent of both counties
One of the most important provisions of the draft concerns decision-making. The new hospital will be managed by a board composed of representatives of both counties—Bolesławiecki and Zgorzelecki. Each will have one vote, and all decisions will have to be made unanimously.
In practice, this means that each county will have the right of veto.
If one representative disagrees, the decision will not be made.
This could lead to real problems in the hospital’s operation. For example:
- if an urgent equipment purchase is necessary and one of the counties objects, the purchase may not go ahead,
- if there is a need to reorganize departments, one side’s lack of consent may block the decision,
- if the new director wants to implement changes, they may be unable to do so without the full consent of both counties.
In extreme cases, this could lead to decision-making paralysis.
The draft does not guarantee that all departments will remain in their current locations
The document states that the departments will retain their current locations as their primary sites. However, it contains no provision guaranteeing that they will remain there permanently.
This is a significant difference.
The absence of such protection means that organizational changes may be possible in the future, including:
- moving a department from one city to another,
- merging two departments into one,
- limiting the activity of selected departments,
- gradually phasing out certain types of services at one of the locations.
Such situations have already occurred in other parts of Poland following hospital mergers.
For example, if one department operates in both cities, the management may decide that maintaining two is unprofitable and leave only one—in a single location.
All assets will be transferred to the new entity
The new hospital will become the owner of the assets currently belonging to both facilities—including real estate, equipment and furnishings.
Formally, the assets will remain public, but they will no longer belong to the hospital in Bolesławiec or the hospital in Zgorzelec as separate entities, but to one joint entity.
The new entity will formally be an entirely new hospital
Once the new entity is entered in the National Court Register, both existing hospitals will be removed from the register and will cease to exist as separate legal entities.
By operation of law, the staff will be taken over by the new employer, which means continuity of employment will be preserved. However, this does not mean that organizational changes will not be possible in the future.
What this means for patients
At first, patients will probably not notice any changes. The hospitals will operate in the same locations, with the same staff and the same range of services.
However, the decisions made in the following years will be of greatest importance.
It will depend on the management of the new entity whether both centers are developed evenly or whether part of the activity is concentrated in one location.
The draft agreement is a key document
The draft agreement shows that the planned merger is not merely cooperation, but a full merger of two hospitals into one new legal, financial and organizational entity.
The document will form the basis for further decisions by the local governments. Once it is adopted, there will no longer be two independent hospitals, but one joint entity managed by both counties.
How it will function in practice will depend on the future decisions of its authorities.