Those who voted in favour of merging the hospital: Krzysztof Basiak, Bogdan Biernat, Tomasz Gabrysiak, Patryk Hałka, Wojciech Kasprzyk, Jan Kozak, Julia Lisiecka-Sarbak, Maciej Małkowski, Maciej Marnicki, Tomasz Matyjewicz, Jarosław Nenkin, Cezariusz Rudyk, Józef Skóra, Antoni Stec and Alina Zarembecka.

Those who voted against: Gabriela Błoniarz, Agnieszka Michalczuk and Radosław Palczewski.

Abstentions: Sebastian Fijałkowski and Mateusz Kołodziej.

The session began at 2:00 p.m. and lasted an hour and a half. The subject of the proceedings was a resolution approving the merger of the Zespół Opieki Zdrowotnej in Bolesławiec with the Wielospecjalistyczny Szpital SP ZOZ in Zgorzelec.

The draft resolution was presented by county secretary Sylwia Chruszcz:

The draft resolution begins the consolidation process for the Bolesławiec and Zgorzelec hospitals.

She explained that the merger would take place under Article 66 of the Act on Medical Activity, without conducting liquidation proceedings.

The Education, Health and Social Assistance Committee gave the draft a positive opinion—four votes in favour and two abstentions.

Doubts about the procedure and pace

Questions arose during the discussion about the procedure for convening the extraordinary session.

One of the councillors asked:

Why this way? (…) We had barely finished the regular session, and now we have an extraordinary session.

It was pointed out that the councillors had received the materials the previous afternoon, while the matter was strategic in nature.

The county head explained:

The process has been completed. (…) I have received no motions or questions concerning the subject of today’s session.

He stressed that more than 50 questions had previously been submitted and answered in writing.

“This is not liquidation”

Public discussion included descriptions suggesting that the hospital was being liquidated. The county head addressed this directly:

This is not liquidation proceedings. Consolidation is not liquidation.

He also noted:

The immovable property (…) is not owned by the hospital and is not being transferred to the new entity.

The properties at Jeleniogórska, Zygmunta Augusta and 1 Maja streets remain the property of Bolesławiec County.

The goals of the merger

The resolution’s justification cited, among other things, increasing the scale of operations, improving the hospitals’ position in the healthcare system and creating greater opportunities to obtain external funding.

The councillors nevertheless demanded greater precision:

Why didn’t we include measurable goals? (…) What will happen in Bolesławiec?

The county head replied that detailed plans had been discussed at earlier meetings and included, among other things, the development of specialist outpatient clinics, cardiology and neurosurgery. He stressed:

We do not want our hospital to shrink. We want our hospital to grow.

Money from the “consolidation bonus”

One of the arguments in favour of the merger was the promised funding from the so-called consolidation bonus.

County head Tomasz Gabrysiak said:

We can submit an application to obtain some of this money. It is a competition.

Asked whether there was a risk that the funds would not reach Bolesławiec, he replied:

I don’t think it is possible that they would not reach us, but it is a competition.

The Social Council and the NFZ

Some councillors pointed out that the Social Council had issued an opinion on the merger concept in December but had not commented again on the final draft. The executive board argued that the law does not require the Social Council to issue an opinion on the merger resolution itself.

There was also a question about the position of the National Health Fund. Hospital director Kamil Barczyk said that consultations had taken place and that, in response to a parliamentary question, a positive opinion on the direction of the measures had been presented.

Dispute over the agreement

During the session, a motion was made to provide the current version of the agreement between the counties.

One of the councillors said:

This is the last moment when we can discuss this agreement.

The executive board explained that, compared with the original version, only the name of the new entity had been changed by adding “Bolesławiec–Zgorzelec”. The proposal to clarify the name had previously been made, among others, by councillor Radosław Palczewski.

Today’s adoption of the resolution marks the beginning of the formal process, which will include review by the voivode’s supervisory authority, publication of the agreement and further registration procedures. The County Council’s decision is the first stage of this procedure.