Hospital Director Requests Pay Cut Amidst 52 Million Zloty Loss

The director of a district hospital in Inowrocław, Poland, has taken the unusual step of requesting a salary reduction, highlighting the severe financial crisis plaguing the facility. Bartosz Jakub Myśliwiec, director of the Multidisciplinary Hospital, stated that the hospital ended the previous year with a loss of 52 million złoty, a figure nearly double that of the year before. This dire financial situation necessitates finding solutions to improve the hospital's condition, including difficult decisions regarding contract employees' remuneration.

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We must therefore seek all possible solutions that will improve the facility's condition. This also means making difficult decisions regarding the remuneration of contract employees.

Myśliwiec described his request to lower his own salary from four times the average enterprise wage to three times as a symbolic gesture, acknowledging it represents only about 60,000 złoty in savings annually. However, he believes it is essential to lead by example when asking for sacrifices from his team. He invoked his medical oath, emphasizing a commitment to patient service above financial concerns, and expressed concern that losing sight of the patient's importance could lead to losing the profession's true meaning.

The hospital's financial situation remains critical, with recent multi-million złoty demands from suppliers for energy, gas, and medication. This has strained the hospital's ability to pay doctors on contracts on time, causing significant distress among staff. While a credit line has helped restore timely payments, discussions are ongoing with doctors about temporarily reducing contract rates. The hospital has seen one doctor resign and three nurses initially leave, though the nurses ultimately stayed by transitioning to employment contracts. Paramedics have also submitted similar requests, underscoring the pervasive impact of financial liquidity issues on the entire institution.

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When I took the medical oath, there was not a word about money. But there was a commitment to serve the patient.

A primary obstacle to recovery is that healthcare services are priced significantly below their actual cost, with over 95% of services at the district hospital operating at a loss. This means the more the hospital treats patients, the greater its financial deficit becomes, particularly in essential departments like internal medicine, surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology. These departments, while crucial for patient safety, are the largest contributors to the hospital's financial losses.

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In other words, the more we treat, the greater the loss we generate.