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Centre of Migration Research
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Dominika Pszczółkowska, Emilia Szyszkowska, Sara Bojarczuk, Kamil Matuszczyk, Maciej Duszczyk. 2026.

The Resilience of the Polish Healthcare System after the Arrival of War Refugees from Ukraine

 

Central and Eastern European Migration Review

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Central and Eastern European Migration Review, Vol. 15, No. 1, 2026, pp. 199-218
DOI:10.54667/ceemr.2026.09

 


Abstract

After the Russian aggression on Ukraine in February 2022, Poland experienced the largest European movement of war refugees in nearly a century: 8,000,000 crossed the border by the year’s end. The European Union granted them immediate access to healthcare systems. This sudden increase in the number of patients challenged Poland’s healthcare system’s resilience. This article, based on a mixed-methods analysis of data from public and private institutions, a survey of medical students (n=581) and interviews with junior doctors (n=18), investigates how the system remained resilient and identifies the contributing and hindering factors in health-service delivery, the health workforce and leadership/governance. Initially, the system’s resilience was upheld by an outburst of support, with doctors working overtime, private providers offering free services and NGOs facilitating access. Personnel shortages were reduced by swiftly employing Ukrainian medical staff, based on a special law. However, in the medium term, communication and other difficulties became evident.
 

Keywords

refugees, Ukraine, healthcare, resilience, Poland, doctors, medical students

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