During Thursday’s County Council session, the condition of the Bolesławiec hospital was among the issues discussed. Józef Król, head of the Forum councillors’ group, asked about the matter. “On 1 July this year, the Healthcare Activities Act entered into force, radically increasing the responsibility of founding bodies for the financial results of the hospitals subordinate to them,” the councillor stressed.
Under the act, any negative financial result must first be covered by the ZOZ; if it is unable to do so, the founding body—in this case the Bolesławiec County Office—has three months to cover it. “If the hospital’s debt is not covered, the founding body is obliged to close the healthcare facility within a year,” Król explained. “The Forum group believes that steps should already be taken to avoid such a situation. Our hospital must be prepared to operate in the changed legal environment.”
“One of the options proposed in the act is transforming the healthcare facility into a commercial-law company,” the councillor continued. “However, the benefits of such a move are uncertain; the transformation itself does not guarantee an automatic improvement in the hospital’s condition. It must also be remembered that a ZOZ transformed into a company acquires the capacity to declare bankruptcy, which is unacceptable in the context of health security.”
The county governor, Cezary Przybylski, spoke. “We discussed this during the last meeting of the Social Council of the Bolesławiec ZOZ,” he stressed. “We will consider transforming the hospital into a commercial-law company. First, however, we must analyze what benefits this could bring to the County. The advantage of this solution is that, when the healthcare facility is transformed, the debts we have to repay will be cancelled. We need to consider everything calmly.”
The discussion was brought to an end by the head of the County Council and the Social Council of the SP ZOZ, Karol Stasik, who stated that an analysis should be carried out to show which option would be more beneficial for the Bolesławiec hospital. “The numbers do not lie,” he added. We will return to the matter.
(information: ii)