The Provincial Combined Hospital in Kielce has suspended all scheduled admissions until the end of the year due to unresolved nadwykonania (unpaid services performed beyond the contracted limit) amounting to 23 million PLN owed by the National Health Fund (NFZ). The restrictions do not apply to patients requiring urgent intervention, children, teenagers, or oncology patients. The hospital in Ostrołęka, in the Mazovia region, also switched to “emergency mode” as of December 1.
The Provincial Combined Hospital in Kielce announced today that scheduled admissions will be suspended from December 1 until the end of 2025. The hospital’s management emphasized in a statement that the decision is a consequence of “months-long delays in settling liabilities and the lack of payment for nadwykonania from the NFZ.”
Dire Situation of the Hospital in Kielce
Hospital spokesperson Anna Mazur-Kałuża said the facility has found itself in an extremely difficult position and has become a “hostage of the system.” She noted that the hospital still does not know the NFZ’s financial plan for next year, making it impossible to prepare a budget. She assured that despite the financial challenges, all wards and outpatient clinics are functioning without restrictions. Each patient is assessed individually by a physician to determine whether urgent intervention is necessary. The suspension of scheduled admissions does not apply to pregnant women; deliveries—including scheduled C-sections—are proceeding according to plan.
She added that the cuts announced by the Ministry of Health regarding cataract treatment, diagnostic imaging, and the termination of the “Good Meal” pilot program are also deeply concerning. Dropping just the last program means about 5 million PLN less funding for the hospital, which—she noted—could have a direct impact on patients and the hospital’s financial ability to operate.
Agnieszka Białas-Sitarska, spokesperson for the Świętokrzyskie branch of the NFZ, explained that the Kielce hospital’s nadwykonania since the beginning of the year amount to 23 million PLN, while the hospital’s total contract for 2025 is 755 million PLN, increased by 75.5 million PLN. She added that the facility receives more than 60 million PLN from the NFZ every month. According to Białas-Sitarska, the situation may improve with the amendment to the Medical Fund Act, which allocates an additional 3.56 billion PLN to children’s healthcare services and is currently awaiting the president’s signature.
Governor Expresses Concern
The Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Office commented on the matter on Wednesday. “The Świętokrzyskie Voivode Józef Bryk received with concern the information about the suspension of planned procedures until the end of 2025 at the Provincial Combined Hospital in Kielce. Therefore, he urgently requested the hospital’s management to explain what prompted this decision and what solutions—beneficial for patients—the hospital proposes,” the statement said.
Bryk also requested data on how many patients could be affected by the restrictions, as well as a list of scheduled procedures performed in each month of 2025. He also asked for data on the number of such procedures performed in previous years.
The statement emphasized that the Voivodeship Office has received no signals indicating disruptions in the functioning of the hospital’s departments, and no other hospital in the region has reported intentions to suspend services.
It is worth recalling that as of December 1, the hospital in Ostrołęka also entered “emergency mode.” The hospital’s director, Paweł Natkowski, explained that the decision was due to the lack of NFZ payments for unpaid nadwykonania, which amount to more than 15 million PLN.