Zywiec and Wrzesnia to pioneer PPP schemes in hospital management

2010-02-10

Two local authorities are planning to initiate the construction of new hospitals under public-private partnerships (PPP) in 2010, the first such arrangements in the Polish healthcare sector. Their representatives talked about the projects during a recent conference about PPP schemes in medical care, covered by Puls Biznesu.
One is Zywiec (Slaskie voivodship), which in November announced that it has received nine offers from domestic and foreign companies and consortia in the tender to build and operate a revamped district hospital under a PPP arrangement. Now Jan Miodonski, deputy head of the district government, revealed that negotiations with the bidders would start on 1 February and a framework agreement with the selected partner should be signed in the autumn. The securing of a building permit will take another six months. Authorities estimate the cost of the new hospital – which is to have 352 beds - at PLN 140m (€34.3m). The private investor will design, build and operate the hospital for a designated period. It may also be allowed to build an additional wing in which to provide extra services, he revealed.
Meanwhile, Wrzesnia is planning to build a 199-bed hospital under a PLN 60m (€14.7m) project that will also involve a remodelling of existing facilities. The goal is to improve quality and broaden the range of services. According to Dionizy Jasniewicz, head of the district government, negotiations will potential partners should be announced within a month. Wrzesnia has secured PLN 35m (€8.6m) in EU funds to help finance the project, but needs the support of a private investor to realise it. The hospital itself is in a good financial situation and generates revenues of PLN 34-35m (€8.3-8.6m) annually.
Construction work could get underway in the autumn and would take 18-24 months.
The success of these pioneering initiatives could encourage others. Pawel Pawlowski of the Warsaw city government said that it intended to monitor the Zywiec project closely, as it contemplated the building of a new hospital under a PPP arrangement.
The nine suitors for the Zywiec project are known to include: prominent Polish hospital groups EMC Instytut Medyczny and Konsorcjum Polskie Szpitale, large foreign healthcare management firms Vamed and InterHealth Canada, General Electric Medical Systems, as well as construction groups Strabag of Germany and Mostostal.