General surgery and trauma-orthopedic departments will disappear from the Provincial Hospital of Trauma Surgery of St. Anna in Warsaw. They are to be transferred to the Bródnowski Hospital and the facility in Konstancin-Jeziorna. The management of the hospital in Ochota explains the changes as the need for urgent renovation. It is unclear whether the move is temporary or whether it de facto ends the operations of both branches.
“The Management Board of Mazowieckie Centrum Rehabilitacji STOCER sp. z o. o., after an in-depth analysis of the economic and financial situation of the organizational units, decided on organizational changes. Their aim is to ensure that the company adapts to the needs of patients defined in the map of health needs of the Masovian Voivodeship” – this is how the letter begins that employees received from the hospital owner on Monday.
– The rest of it shows that the hospital will be subject to restructuring, which will involve the transfer of trauma and orthopedic surgery and general surgery departments to other hospitals, and the trauma emergency room, which cannot function without the department, will also disappear – said specialist orthopedist-traumatologist Łukasz Buczyński , doctor in charge of the Department of Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery at the Provincial Hospital of Trauma Surgery of St. Anna in Warsaw (this is the full name of the hospital at Barska Street). Moreover, the owner mentioned in the letter that a Care and Treatment Center would be established in this hospital. He did not say whether the relocation of the two surgical departments outside the facility was temporary, until the renovation was completed, or whether it was a permanent move.
However, the hospital's medical staff suspects that the changes are final, although, as they admit, they have not been able to receive a clear answer on this matter.
Management about the need for modernization. “This building is falling down, it needs to undergo major renovation”
The Polish Press Agency asked Jolanta Wiśniewska, member of the management board of the Masovian Rehabilitation Center STOCER, the owner of the hospital (the sole shareholder of the company is the Masovian Voivodeship), whether the general surgery and trauma-orthopedic departments will return to their old location after the renovation. – No topic is closed – she replied. But when asked whether it is possible that the Care and Treatment Center will take the place of surgery, she replied that “the hospital also has to earn some money from the National Health Fund.”
Jolanta Wiśniewska argued that a general renovation is necessary in the facility, which is 72 years old. – This building is falling down, it needs to undergo major renovation – she said.
She explained that the hospital, built in 1952, apart from “cosmetic” improvements – “a little paint here, new door frames there” – had not undergone a proper renovation since new. As Wiśniewska pointed out, “the installations are simply in a terrible condition – both sanitary and electrical.”
– At the moment, it does not meet basic sanitary requirements and the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station is constantly on our minds – she said. She calculated that the sewer lines also need to be renovated, which cannot be done during normal hospital operation. – The elevator is almost 30 years old, it keeps breaking down, this year alone we spent several dozen thousand zlotys on repairs – said a member of the management board. She noted that replacing the elevator, the only one in the facility, would mean “three months of shutting down the hospital.”
Wiśniewska also pointed out that there is fungus on the walls of the hospital and there are no bathrooms in the rooms, they are located in the corridor – one for women and one for men – patients inform themselves whether they are free or occupied by posting cards.
– Moreover, the operating theaters do not meet any current requirements. The Sanitary and Epidemiological Station allows them conditionally because it is an old building, but it is not known how long this approval will last, she emphasized, adding that the hospital on Barska Street is one of the few that does not have medical gases supplied to its rooms, but only uses cylinders.
11-12 thousand “acute” visits per year. “This group of patients will have to look for help elsewhere.”
Dr. Łukasz Buczyński pointed out that the operating block was being renovated, because in fact, the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station had reservations and closed it for some time, so it had to be renovated two years ago. – Today it is at a level that we do not have to be ashamed of, and patients can be confident about their health – assured the doctor. He expressed concern that the money invested in the renovation of the block, but also other hospital rooms, would now be wasted.
He admitted that the prospect of closing two surgical departments, each of which has a very good reputation, worries him greatly – not only because of the confusion it will cause in the professional lives of doctors, nurses and the rest of the medical staff, but mainly because of the well-being of patients.
The orthopedist pointed out that his department records approximately 2.5 thousand surgical hospitalizations annually, while the trauma emergency room has 11-12 thousand so-called acute visits, where injuries are treated on an ad hoc basis. – This group of patients will have to look for help elsewhere – he noted, adding that in the case of his hospital – on Barska Street – the location in the heart of the city plays an important role, and from January 1, patients will have to go to Konstancin or Bródno for duty.
– In addition, we have patients scheduled for procedures, e.g. hip or knee joint replacement, which means another 300-350 procedures a year – they will have to go to other hospitals and join the queue again – he emphasized.
The doctor is afraid of breaking up the operating team
According to Dr. Buczyński, who has been working at this facility for 20 years, the well-coordinated surgical team, valued by patients not only in the capital, will be broken up. – I have heard many times that if someone suffers an injury, the first place they think about is our hospital – he noted.
When asked about the financial condition of his department and the entire hospital, he replied that he did not know the overall results of the facility, but they had long heard that the marshal's office was fed up with paying extra to Barska and something would have to be done about it.
– It seems that a public hospital is not an entity that is supposed to bring profits at all, it is simply supposed to serve patients. These are the times when treatment costs are rising. Employee salaries are certainly increasing as well. However, financing by the National Health Fund is not adjusted, so hospitals naturally become indebted – said Dr. Buczyński.
In his opinion, most hospitals in Warsaw are more or less in debt, some of them hundreds of millions, and no one is thinking about closing them. The head of the department drew attention to another financial aspect. – The branch will probably fall apart, people will leave, but there is an National Health Fund contract that will be taken over by other branches. This is a lucrative business, especially for the department that will take over the prosthetic and trauma contract worth approximately PLN 1.5 million a month, he pointed out.
Jolanta Wiśniewska said that she understands the concerns of hospital employees because “no one likes change.” She informed that they were currently announcing a tender and waiting for the voivode's assessment of the advisability of the investment. – We intend to start a general renovation immediately in the new year – she announced.
Hospital employees comment that if the trauma surgery department disappears from their facility for good, its name will have to be changed, because the current one – the Provincial Hospital of Trauma Surgery of St. Anny – it won't fit anymore. They plan to announce a competition for a new one on social media.
Main photo source: Artur Węgrzynowicz/tvnwarszawa.pl