From August 1, the district hospital in Bartoszyce will undergo a major reorganization. Three departments – internal medicine, nephrology, and pulmonology – will be merged into one. The reason behind the changes is the hospital’s enormous debt and severe staff shortages. At the same time, two doctors at the facility earn more than PLN 100,000 per month.
The Bartoszyce hospital will consolidate the Internal Medicine Department with the Cardiac Intensive Monitoring Unit, the Pulmonology Department, and the Nephrology Department. According to the hospital’s head nurse, Beata Rewucha, the changes will result in 10 fewer beds, while six nurses will be transferred to work in other departments.
“The dialysis station will remain operational and will function from Monday to Saturday,” Rewucha assured.
The Bartoszyce hospital had also considered closing the Maternity Department due to the very low number of births – only around 90 babies have been born there since the beginning of the year. The department had already been temporarily suspended in the past, which each time triggered waves of protests. In December 2025, Law and Justice (PiS) MPs were among those protesting against its closure. Ultimately, the department remains open.
“This is not a choice, but a consequence”
The director of the Bartoszyce District Hospital, Beata Deka, made it clear that the facility is facing a difficult situation. She wrote that the consolidation is not a choice, but a consequence of the problems the hospital has been struggling with for years. According to the presented data, the hospital’s debt amounts to as much as PLN 90.7 million, making it the most indebted medical facility in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship.
Director Deka did not hide the fact that the hospital’s staffing situation has reached a critical level, while financial problems continue to worsen. She stressed that the time had come for difficult decisions because attempts to maintain the existing operating model for many years, despite changing circumstances, had lost their purpose. As she noted, the goal is no longer to preserve the current structure, but to ensure the hospital itself can continue operating.
Doctors are missing, and there are no applicants
The scale of the staffing problems is striking. The hospital has only two nephrologists, while a fully functioning department requires four to five specialists. A similar situation exists in the Pulmonology Department, where only one doctor is fully available, supported part-time by a physician who is already retired.
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“We searched for doctors in every possible way, but no one applied. We are a small town, we are located only a few kilometers from the Russian border, and there are no crowds of people willing to come and work here,” Rewucha admitted, adding that merging the three departments into one should sufficiently secure treatment and patient care.
The hospital’s difficult situation is also affected by unfavorable demographic trends. According to data concerning Bartoszyce County, as many as 37 percent of young people have left the region, further deepening the hospital’s staffing and financial problems.
Doctors’ contracts exceed PLN 100,000
Despite the hospital’s dramatic financial situation, some specialists at the Bartoszyce facility earn very high salaries. An orthopedic and trauma specialist received PLN 113,000 in remuneration in May, while a nephrologist earned PLN 105,000. Another highly paid specialist was a surgeon, whose monthly contract amounted to PLN 90,000.
Asked about these rates, head nurse Beata Rewucha admitted that they are a result of the realities of the healthcare labor market.
“Today, in healthcare, employees are the ones who have the upper hand over employers. If we did not pay such rates, we would not have these specialists, and then there would be no departments,” Rewucha said.