Debt, Ownership, and Size: The Case of Hospitals in Poland.

The goal of this study is to compare the financial performance of public hospitals according to ownership and size. The study covered public hospitals in Poland and covered two hospitals types depending on their founding authority, i.e., hospitals established and financed by the Marshal's Office (Marshal hospitals) or the City Hall (poviat-commune hospitals). The study was based on an analysis of the hospitals' financial situation (using debt and solvency ratios) and its relationship to the founding body and size. The verification of hypotheses was carried out using the Mann-Whitney U test. The results led to the conclusion that the vast majority of public hospitals are indebted, and their ownership structure does not affect their financial condition. The study did not confirm a significant relationship between size or ownership and the financial status of the hospital. The article aims to fill the research gap regarding the debt analysis between different types of public hospitals. It also presents a new research direction aimed at finding the factors that determine the difficult financial situation of public hospitals in Poland.