Healthcare
Poland — Healthcare: Major Hospitals
In Poland most hospitals are public: counties run smaller county hospitals, voivodeships larger regional hospitals, and the Ministry of Health supervises medical university clinics and national institutes.
VerifiedGovernment / official sourceWHO European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies – Poland country pageLast reviewed: 2026-10-26
Key facts
- Most hospitals in Poland are public, while private facilities provide mainly outpatient (ambulatory) care.
- Municipalities (gmina) oversee primary care, counties (powiat) run often smaller county hospitals, and voivodeships run generally larger regional hospitals.
- The Ministry of Health founded the national health institutes and supervises medical university clinics.
- Hospital capacity is extensive and most health spending goes to inpatient care.
- Poland has among the lowest numbers of health professionals in Europe.