Polish hospitals face record doctor payments and mounting debts

In the Mazovian city of Ciechanów, an orthopaedic surgeon at a regional hospital issued invoices totaling more than 500,000 zł in the two months of January and February 2025 (258,000 zł and 316,000 zł respectively). The doctor said the amounts reflect the volume of surgeries – about 90 operations in the final months – and contract terms, not a conventional salary. The controversy emerged amid broader concerns about public‑health financing, with the Mazovian hospital system reporting 1.4 billion zł of debt at the end of September 2025.

Meanwhile, the municipal hospital in Miastko, Pomerania, performed a record 73 neurosurgical procedures in a single day in January 2025 despite having only 19 beds. The facility’s total indebtedness has exceeded 35 billion zł, including roughly 7 billion zł owed to staff. Local authorities approved a 5 million zł loan to cover overdue salaries, while payments to external doctors reportedly reached up to 300,000 zł per day (about 26,000 zł per hour). The case is under investigation by the Central Anticorruption Bureau.