Health Minister Takes Aim at Hospital-Linked Companies. In Bolesławiec, Questions About MEDASK Still Lack Full Answers

Health Minister Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda has announced changes to health care intended to increase transparency in hospitals’ spending and reduce the risk of abuses. During Wednesday’s press conference, she spoke, among other things, about contracts concluded by healthcare entities with so-called companies.

– There will be no further tolerance for healthcare entities—hospitals—concluding contracts with so-called companies (...). Such situations and such arrangements cannot exist in hospitals. They undermine transparency and clarity and raise serious controversy, said Health Minister Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda.

This is a nationwide announcement, but it has particular resonance in Bolesławiec. Istotne.pl was the first to report on the private company MEDASK, which provides services for Szpital św. Łukasza in Bolesławiec. People associated with the hospital appeared in the company: doctors, management staff and lawyers, as well as the facility director Kamil Barczyk’s wife in the past.

The case raised questions about transparency from the outset. The hospital uses the services of a private company but refused to disclose the full amounts MEDASK earns from cooperation with the public facility. The money comes from the health care system, which is why questions about settlement rules, remuneration and personal connections are matters of public importance.

After our reports, oversight institutions took an interest in the case. We wrote about inspections concerning the hospital and about the fact that director Kamil Barczyk did not answer all questions concerning MEDASK. During one conference, the subject was cut short, even though the questions concerned public money and the principles of the hospital’s cooperation with a private entity.

The Supreme Medical Chamber also spoke on the matter. In the context of similar cooperation models, a representative of NIL described the issue as “slippery,” pointing to the problem of transparency and a possible conflict of interest.

Speaking about the need to repair the system, the Health Minister emphasized that the problem does not concern the entire health care system, but arrangements that may have created opportunities for abuse over the years.

– Today I want to send a clear signal to all Poles: Poland’s health care system is created by people who are committed and responsible every day (...) However, we cannot pretend that the system is free of defects, because it is not. Over the years, imperfections have accumulated and created room for abuses, said Health Minister Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda.

In the case of Bolesławiec, the key questions remain current: how much money did MEDASK receive from the hospital, who actually benefited financially from this cooperation, could people associated with the hospital simultaneously influence the system from which the private company drew revenue, and why were the full details not disclosed to the public.

The Ministry of Health’s announcement shows that the issue we reported on locally is not solely a Bolesławiec matter. It is part of a broader discussion about how hospitals spend public money and whether patients and residents have the right to know who earns money from public facilities and under what rules.

For Bolesławiec residents, however, the most important question is whether the MEDASK case will be fully clarified. Szpital św. Łukasza is a public facility, financed with public funds and serving the residents of the county. Therefore, the rules governing cooperation with private companies should be clear, understandable and possible to audit.