Michał Szabelski on Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda's health policy: "This could be the beginning of wise reforms"
The new Minister of Health, Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda, an experienced healthcare manager, takes over the ministry facing specific challenges, such as physician remuneration and the lack of overtime payments, as well as high expectations from the medical community. Michał Szabelski, CEO of University Clinical Hospital No. 4 in Lublin, in an interview with politykazdrowia.com, points out that her appointment offers an opportunity for real consolidation of resources and the implementation of systemic healthcare reforms.
As part of the announced government reshuffle, Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda, the current CEO of Szpitale Pomorskie, has assumed the position of Minister of Health. She will replace Izabela Leszczyna, who has held the position since 2023. The official announcement of Donald Tusk's new cabinet confirmed this significant change.
You can read more about the new Minister of Health here
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According to Michał Szabelski, the nomination of Jolanta Sobierańska-Grenda is a "very good omen" for the Polish healthcare system.
The new Minister of Health will certainly support two key ideas: the need for changes in healthcare , with particular emphasis on the referentiality of departments – which I personally support – as well as the integration of resources throughout its structure at the central and local levels , the expert emphasizes.
Szabelski draws attention to the lack of coherent thinking about the so-called patient pathway and insufficient cooperation between hospitals at different levels.
"These two keywords today are consolidation and integration in a context of limited resources. These changes are inevitable. We need better cooperation between entities with different structures and branch references. This is the best way to implement effective reforms that transcend current policies," he says.
More on the depoliticization of the Ministry of Health can be found here
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Szabelski cites hospitals in the Pomeranian Voivodeship , including Copernicus, and integrated clinical units in Poznań, Gdańsk, and Wrocław as examples of successful consolidations.
One of the key challenges remains the deployment of referral units, which are often located in facilities unsuitable for the care of high-risk patients.
Gynecology and obstetrics departments should offer the highest level of referral for pregnancy pathologies, but this doesn't mean that every gynecology department has to provide it. Criteria should take into account the patient's transport time and the frequency of the condition, he notes.
As Director Szabelski emphasizes, large deficits concern elderly and chronically ill patients.
There's a shortage of beds in care and treatment facilities, geriatric and palliative care wards. Internal medicine? These wards are often combined with geriatrics, but they're still insufficient. Meanwhile, seniors and those who don't require specialist intervention pose the system's greatest challenge today," he notes.
The director of the University Clinical Hospital in Lublin clearly formulates the demand for a change in the remuneration policy as an urgent reform in health care.
In short: a full-time doctor should earn more. The unions' demands for salaries to be two or three times the average wage are justified. Such a model will reduce job fragmentation. And what about contract doctors? Only a few earn over 100,000 złoty – even though they are most often portrayed as the beneficiaries of the system – says Szabelski.
He also advocates moving away from willingness-to-pay fees towards remuneration for treatment outcomes.
I'm a proponent of the pay-for-therapeutic-effect model. We should minimize payments for availability. This is a global trend, and I hope the minister will follow suit.
The new Minister of Health – according to Szabelski – has a chance to effectively implement the changes because she knows the practice and theory of hospital management, has teaching experience and understands the principles of compliance.
I absolutely support a project-based approach to implementing reforms. Strong communication and good advisory teams are also necessary. Unfortunately, nothing will change on its own.
Michał Szabelski warns that the lack of payments for unlimited services for the first quarter of 2025 may lead even well-managed hospitals to reach for working capital loans.
We operate under budget constraints. We are not currently using loans, but a lack of funds in the next quarter could impact the hospital's ongoing operations. We're talking about an amount of nearly 10 million złoty.
Szabelski points to the need to monitor the purchasing process, especially in the medical technology and IT sectors.
We must counteract concentration in this dynamically developing area. We are seeing service price increases of up to 300%! We should monitor the market and any potential monopolization processes – both in robotics and IT.
In his summary, the director of the University Clinical Hospital in Lublin emphasizes that the necessary changes will not be effective without increasing funds for the healthcare system in Poland.
There's no other option – we should increase the amount of money in the system, but at the same time allocate it more efficiently. Otherwise, we'll just keep adding to it, and the shortfall will remain.
Updated: 24/07/2025 06:30
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