In connection with media reports informing about the problems of the Multi-Specialty Hospital in Zgorzelec in obtaining a contract for the provision of radiotherapy services, we would like to comment on the situation, especially since we, as an investor, remain a party to the discussion.

The need to create a modern radiotherapy center in the Zgorzelec region has been talked about for many years. As statistics show, residents of the so-called turoszowski sac are particularly at risk of cancer. Many years of devastating economy in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany, regardless of the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere, led to an ecological catastrophe that covered the entire south-western part of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. This also applies to the huge, long-term carcinogenic impact of various substances on the inhabitants of this region. In the Zgorzelec region, the mortality rate from breast cancer is approximately three times higher than in the entire Lower Silesian Voivodeship, and the mortality rate from cervical cancer is almost six times higher.

Such a high incidence of cancer caused the local hospital to invest and still invest in the development of oncological diagnostics and therapy. The multi-specialty hospital in Zgorzelec runs oncological surgery and clinical oncology departments and has full diagnostic facilities. Hospital primary health care clinics provide an oncology package for 400 people. inhabitants. To be able to offer patients comprehensive oncological treatment, the hospital needed the last link - radiotherapy. It is also needed because currently patients from all over the region have to go for radiation treatments to Jelenia Góra or Legnica (the closest to the centers), and the travel time often exceeds 1,5 hours. Meanwhile, as European studies show, traveling to radiotherapy for more than 45 minutes is a common reason for patients to resign from undergoing treatment. Patients from the Zgorzelec region - of different ages, in different physical and mental conditions, with different family situations - are forced to commute if they want to start or continue treatment.

Together with the hospital in Zgorzelec and the district authorities, we intended to change this situation. Amethyst Radiotherapy is an international network of medical centers specializing in radiotherapy. We have extensive medical and investor experience, our centers operate in France, Romania, Austria, Italy and Poland. The Amethyst Radiotherapy Center has been successfully operating in Poland since December 2013 - a modern center operating in close cooperation with the Specialist Hospital. L. Rydygier in Krakow. Over 2,5 thousand people are treated there every year. oncology patients. Thanks to the cooperation of our specialists with the hospital, services under the National Health Fund and the implementation of the oncology package, patients are provided with a full range of oncological therapy and the most modern treatment standards in one place.

It was supposed to be similar with Zgorzelec. Before starting the investment, the hospital received initial assurances that radiotherapy services would be contracted as soon as the center was ready to accept patients. There was full agreement that radiotherapy in Zgorzelec was necessary. The management of the Multi-Specialty Hospital in Zgorzelec applied for the possibility of contracting radiotherapy. Unsuccessfully. Repeated talks with the National Health Fund and the Ministry of Health about including the Zgorzelec center in the group of Lower Silesian facilities providing radiotherapy have not yielded any results.

The current situation is very difficult for us. We are fully committed to the implementation of this investment, we invested PLN 60 million in the center, fully convinced that it will serve the Zgorzelec community. We have prepared and installed the latest generation equipment, including two state-of-the-art accelerators of world brands. We have employed and trained all medical staff, who have been waiting since May to be able to work and treat patients. Due to the decision of the Lower Silesian National Health Fund and the lack of flexibility in negotiations, we cannot act, and patients from the Zgorzelec region are still forced to travel arduously and often be separated from their loved ones for a long time. All this can be easily prevented - as long as the radiotherapy center in Zgorzelec receives a chance to receive treatment under the contract from the Fund.

From the point of view of an investor undertaking the construction of a medical center in Poland, this situation is doubly difficult. Each investment, especially one so expensive and implemented in cooperation with a public entity, is based on certain arrangements, previous analyzes and joint decisions. On financial calculations, but also on trust. When the center is ready but it is not possible to obtain a contract, the trust in decision-makers is put to a severe test, and the implementation of each subsequent investment of this type becomes questionable.

We are convinced that a solution can be found in the current situation that will take into account the needs of patients and allow us to use the potential of the Zgorzelec center for the benefit of the residents and the entire region. As an investor, we have completed our task and provided the Lower Silesian community with a modern medical facility that can be the pride of every city. We believe that she will fulfill her role and serve the sick and needy, instead of being just an example of misunderstood official scrupulousness.

Barbara Werchowiecka-Rusinek

The "Breakthrough therapies - the key to the development of medicine" campaign aims to indicate the possibilities of oncological therapies and the progress of this treatment. In a special supplement distributed in Saturday's (September 28) Gazeta Wyborcza, there were statements by many experts from the medical industry. The supplement devotes a lot of attention to radiation therapy.

Currently, the fight against cancer requires the creation of a separate strategy for each patient, a treatment plan that takes into account the type of cancer, the patient's comorbidities and his or her general well-being. Combination therapies prove to be particularly effective, which is why the Amethyst Radiotherapy Center uses teleradiotherapy combined with brachytherapy, immunotherapy, radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy and many other combined therapies. In the case of head and neck cancers, brachytherapy is often used.

- Brachytherapy makes it possible to administer a large dose of radiation with great precision directly to the cancerous lesion, which increases the chance of cure with a relatively low risk of complications. This is particularly important in the case of head and neck cancer, where many vital organs are located, especially the salivary glands and the pharyngeal constrictor muscle, which after receiving a high dose of radiation necessary to cure the cancer may lose their functionality, which is so crucial to life. issue like nutrition - says Marta Urbańska-Gąsiorowska, radiotherapist from Amethyst Radiation Therapy Center.

An important element in the treatment of head and neck cancer is cooperation with a dietitian.

– From the very beginning, when a patient comes to our radiotherapy clinic, he is under the care of a dietitian who gives him instructions on how to eat and take care of himself. Before the therapy begins, the patient usually has some time to properly nourish and hydrate the body. This is very important, because such "supplies" may turn out to be crucial during the difficulties of therapy. We monitor the patient's weight throughout the entire treatment process. If the weight drops, we know that it needs to be counteracted quickly. By observing our patients, we see how important good eating habits are. If a patient takes care of himself, it is easier for him to undergo therapy and has a greater chance of recovery - convinces Marta Urbańska-Gąsiorowska.

Katarzyna Nowak-Ledniowska, psychologist at the Amethyst Radiotherapy Center

The first symptoms of cancer do not have to be obvious, which significantly affects the speed of making an accurate diagnosis. Time, however, seems to be crucial not only for starting treatment, but above all for understanding what is happening to me, getting used to it, and sorting out my life with the disease.

There is no good time for any disease. People simply do not include such a scenario in their plans. In this respect, cancer and coronavirus are very similar. They don't ask for consent, they simply enter our lives unannounced, destroying everything that is important to us along the way: health, plans, businesses, relationships... It can be said that, in some way, the cancer and coronavirus pandemics are developing not only in our bodies, but above all in our experience and mind. What is common is fear and loneliness. The most valuable value that we lose in the face of both is the sense of security.

The situation of cancer patients and their families is particularly difficult now. The supportive presence of a loved one during new, frightening medical procedures, so important for the patient, is now basically impossible. Due to the increasing number of coronavirus infections, a huge number of cancer patients are left alone in their daily fight for health. Families are afraid of exposing their loved ones to infection, and patients are afraid of being infected. It is not known how an organism struggling with cancer would cope with the additional burden of the virus. The fear for oneself and loved ones forces not only real but also emotional isolation. Achieving what is already difficult in cancer, i.e. mobilizing the body's resources for recovery and returning to the so-called vital activities, requires even greater effort from the patient. But it's not impossible. You could say that every fight requires a certain strategy. Every patient, regardless of whether they suffer from cancer or a virus, needs to know what they can do in such a situation and how to help themselves. Not only from the medical side, although the availability of health care for the patient is extremely important, but also from the emotional and mental side. When I know what I can do, I am simply less afraid. When I'm less afraid, I feel better. Dealing with difficult feelings requires some trust that experiencing them will not kill us. Paradoxically, accepting the inevitability of death as a phenomenon that accompanies us at every moment of life can be very helpful here. When we finally stop dying within ourselves, there will still be enough time left to live. It's not the disease that takes it away from us, it's us who often waste it on unproductive activities. And in the recovery process, every moment invested in my comfort, pleasure, and experiencing what I want to experience is important. Regardless of how many problems, difficulties and issues appear nearby. Many patients, absorbed in thinking about the disease, the virus, the ratio of illnesses to the number of deaths in their place of residence, forget about themselves and their needs. He cannot answer the basic questions for mobilizing recovery: how do I rest? What can I do to rest more, more often, better? And it's not about lying on the couch, but resting, which can give a sense of fulfillment, satisfaction and pleasure. Which in such a difficult time of illness and epidemic will bring back the smell and taste of life. The time we have is ours and ours alone. Everyone has their 100 percent, neither more nor less. Therefore, it is worth using it fully to do what I can today, here and now, and from it derive the best quality of life available to me.

Stage 0 has already started, during which medical staff are vaccinated. According to information provided by the government, registration for vaccinations will start on January 15. Patients who have had cancer in the past are not a separate group in the vaccination program, so everyone will have to find their own vaccination order individually in the schedule provided by the Ministry of Health (e.g. people over 60 years of age will be vaccinated in stage 1). This information can be viewed on a dedicated website www.gov.pl/web/szczemysie

People who have been cured of cancer can be vaccinated against COVID-19 without additional consultations with an oncologist. Previous oncological treatment is NOT a contraindication to vaccination. Each vaccination point will provide a medical consultation before vaccination and the doctor's opinion will be a sufficient basis for vaccination. Therefore, doctors from the Amethyst Radiotherapy Center ask you not to register unnecessary visits to the Radiotherapy Clinic. At the moment, they do not make sense in the context of the lack of knowledge of the specific date of vaccination and the fact that from a medical perspective they are not justified.

Only patients undergoing therapy (radiotherapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and all types of combined therapies) will need a consultation with the attending physician. The oncologist will decide whether they can be vaccinated against COVID-19 at a given stage of treatment. However, this does not require registering a separate visit. Each patient undergoing oncological therapy is scheduled for regular follow-up visits, during which the issue of vaccination can be discussed.

We invite you to the next edition of culinary workshops for patients and their caregivers conducted at the Amethyst Radiotherapy Center in Krakow in cooperation with Nutricia Onkology.

Nutrition during cancer plays an extremely important role, and cancer patients are particularly exposed to nutritional deficiencies and life-threatening malnutrition. Dietitian Ewa Ceborska-Scheiterbauer will talk about how to monitor the patient's nutritional status, adjust dietary recommendations to his nutritional requirements, create an optimal menu and use nutritious products.

After the lecture, participants will take part in a cooking show presenting recipes tailored specifically to the nutritional requirements of oncology patients. The workshops are free.

The meeting will start on Wednesday, June 27 at 13.00:XNUMX p.m. in the conference room.