A nationwide protest campaign titled “Black Week,” organized by the Ogólnopolski Związek Pracodawców Szpitali Powiatowych, begins on Monday and runs until April 24. The initiative is a revolt against the current government’s policy, which sharply reduces spending on diagnostics and reimbursement for medical procedures.
County hospitals: patient safety at risk
The organization representing county hospital employers has long warned that the current healthcare financing model is pushing these facilities into serious difficulties and poses a threat to patient safety.
Hospitals emphasize that they have not yet received full payment for so-called excess services delivered in 2025, even though these services were provided. At the same time, the costs of energy, medications, and wages continue to rise, while the valuation of medical procedures remains too low.
According to hospital estimates, once contractual limits with the Narodowy Fundusz Zdrowia are exceeded, funding for examinations such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or endoscopy covers only 50-60% of their actual value, resulting in losses on every additional test performed.
Campaign: “A hospital bed can wait, illness cannot”
As a result, hospitals are forced to limit diagnostic services, leading to significant delays for essential examinations.
In response, the association has announced the “Black Week” campaign, which will take place from Monday, April 20, to Friday, April 24. Under the slogan “A hospital bed can wait, illness cannot,” facilities aim to draw attention to their financial difficulties and their impact on patient safety.
Hospitals will display posters and messages emphasizing that the goal of the protest is to protect patients, not to act against their interests.
Support from Polish counties
The protest has also received backing from the Związek Powiatów Polskich, which is calling on local governments to act jointly. The organization stresses that county hospitals are currently operating under conditions of financial instability, pointing to rising costs, insufficient funding from NFZ contracts, growing debt, and liquidity problems affecting many facilities across the country.