Abandoned Hospital & Children’s Ward, Poland

This abandoned hospital was a once-bustling medical centre, serving a small town in western Poland. It closed down around several years ago, leaving a maze of colourful corridors, empty wards and operating theatres to explore.

I visited this location during my 2023 trip to Poland. It had been a long time since I had explored an abandoned hospital!

Brief History of The Abandoned Hospital

For decades, they played a vital role in the district, providing essential healthcare services to the community. This facility once housed departments for gynaecology-obstetrics, paediatrics, and general surgery (in addition to general medical practice services).

Around 10 years ago, the company that owned it filed for bankruptcy. Over the next few months, the departments closed down, one by one, as the hospital transferred patients to other facilities. The final department to close was paediatrics, which was scheduled to remain open for another year. Ultimately, its closure was curtailed when changes to employee contracts prompted mass resignations. Unpaid wages eventually lead to lawsuits. As the last ward of children were discharged, the hospital was shuttered and left empty.

Despite promises of reopening under a new private owner, the building has remained abandoned and decaying. Recently, this abandoned hospital was listed for sale. There are potential uses for the building, including a medical centre, senior home, or rehabilitation facility. However, the site’s future remains unknown due to its size and the significant amount of resources required to restore or repurpose the dilapidated buildings.

Exploring Inside the Abandoned Hospital

It took several hours of methodically wandering the hallways to create a collection of photos, a task made more tricky by the disorder left by looting. In the end, I did not capture as many photos as I expected given the impressive size of the place! The two operating theatres were a highlight for me. The most photogenic theatre unfortunately had recently been relieved of its double operating lights, leaving only the empty arms hanging from the ceiling. Still, the room offered several intriguing angles with its white-tiled walls, glass medical cabinets, and bay window. The second theatre still had the light, a large single unit. Next door was a small preparation room for doctors, one cabinet labelled “Szafka wyłączona z użytku” (The cabinet is out of use). Ironic.

I walked endless corridors, lined with wards. Most were looted and in disarray, but others that were relatively untouched offered some different photo opportunities. In the corridors outside are rows of chairs that once were filled with anxious patients and their families.

the abandoned children’s wards

The paediatric ward was the final part I visited, the colourful corridor painted with underwater-themed cartoons. In a small side room, an incubator for newborns looks quite modern and out of place in the mostly stripped-out hospital. Brightly coloured cots, once holding the hospital’s youngest patients, stand empty beneath faded murals. Among the murals, I spotted artwork from one of my favourite classic animated movies, The Iron Giant (1992).