Stanisław Sakiel Burn Treatment Centre in Siemianowice Śląskie

Stanisław Sakiel Burn Treatment Centre in Siemianowice Śląskie is one of the leading burn and chronic wound treatment centers in Poland and Central Europe. The Centre provides highly specialized clinical care, conducts scientific and research activities, and develops modern medical technologies and solutions supporting regenerative medicine.

The Burn Treatment Centre (CLO) is a healthcare institution owned by the Silesian Voivodeship local government. It holds accreditation from the Polish Ministry of Health and has implemented management systems compliant with ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 standards. The institution develops process management based on Lean Management principles and the Theory of Constraints.

In 2025, the Centre provided healthcare services to more than 15,000 patients and completed over 1,700 hospitalizations. For more than 25 years, the institution has participated in securing mass casualty incidents, industrial disasters, and crisis situations requiring highly specialized medical care.

In 2025, CLO obtained Verified Burn Center status, became a member of the European Burns Association (EBA), and joined the “Military-Friendly Hospitals” program. The Centre develops competencies in burn trauma treatment, battlefield medicine, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC), Tactical Evacuation Care (TEC), Damage Control Surgery (DCS), and mass casualty incident management.

Between 2021 and 2025, the average burn surface area (%TBSA) among patients hospitalized for more than 24 hours ranged from 11.44% to 15.73%, with a standard deviation ranging from 14.92 to 17.72. In the group of patients with severe burns exceeding 30% TBSA, the average burn surface area remained at approximately 50% TBSA annually.

Over the last five years, the average length of hospitalization for burn patients hospitalized longer than 24 hours ranged from 18.29 to 27.38 days. In the group of patients with burns exceeding 30% TBSA, the average length of hospitalization remained at approximately 21–24 days annually.

During the visit, selected departments and areas of the Centre’s activity will be presented:

• Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Unit

CLO operates a multiplace hyperbaric chamber for up to 16 patients. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used, among others, in the treatment of difficult-to-heal wounds, burn complications, soft tissue infections, and carbon monoxide poisoning. The Centre is one of only two institutions in Poland providing a 24/7 hyperbaric emergency service.

CLO operates a multiplace hyperbaric chamber for up to 16 patients. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used, among others, in the treatment of difficult-to-heal wounds, burn complications, soft tissue infections, and carbon monoxide poisoning. The Centre is one of only two institutions in Poland providing a 24/7 hyperbaric emergency service.

• Department of Nuclear Medicine with SPECT/CT Unit

The department is equipped with the “Veriton CT System” hybrid imaging device manufactured by Spectrum Dynamics Medical. The system consists of a multi-slice diagnostic CT scanner and a fully digital gamma camera equipped with 12 semiconductor CZT detector heads. The system enables simultaneous 360° (3D) imaging and examinations of critically ill patients, including mechanically ventilated patients.

CLO is the only center in Poland performing ventilation and perfusion lung scintigraphy in burn patients undergoing mechanical ventilation and was the first center in the world to perform ventilation scintigraphy in a mechanically ventilated patient.

• Tissue Bank and Cell & Tissue Culture Laboratory

CLO operates a certified Tissue Bank and ATMP-HE (Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products – Hospital Exemption) infrastructure compliant with GMP requirements. Modern cleanroom laboratories prepare, among others:
– full-cell and acellular skin grafts,
– amniotic membrane preparations,
– epidermal and dermal cells,
– cell therapy medicinal products,
– platelet-rich plasma and fibrin preparations.

Each year, the Tissue Bank qualifies and procures tissues from more than 150 donors and prepares advanced medicinal therapy products for nearly 30 patients.

• Medical Coordination Department

The Medical Coordination Department serves as the central organizational and operational unit of the hospital, responsible for the ongoing coordination of clinical and administrative processes. The department functions as the “heart of the hospital,” integrating the activities of inpatient wards, outpatient clinics, and operating theatres.

The team consists of 16 medical secretaries working across all CLO wards and specialist outpatient clinics. The department is responsible, among others, for:
– coordination of the patient treatment pathway, including diagnostics, admissions, and discharges,
– organization of planned and urgent hospitalizations,
– preparation of surgical schedules,
– coordination of operating theatre utilization,
– physician scheduling,
– organization of medical documentation flow,
– support for communication between departments and medical staff.

The organizational model developed at CLO is based on centralized coordination of medical processes, digitalization, and optimization of the patient pathway, enabling efficient management of emergency, mass casualty, and highly specialized treatment processes.

The Centre is also the originator and operator of an innovative chronic wound treatment program based on an outcome-based reimbursement model (success fee). Under this model, payment for treatment depends on therapeutic effectiveness and is settled only after confirmed wound closure.

Treatment outcomes are evaluated two months after completion of therapy based on objective clinical data and photographic documentation analyzed using digital planimetry and a dedicated wound-monitoring application.

The solution represents an example of systemic and managerial innovation in healthcare, integrating:

• data-driven medicine
• digital monitoring of treatment outcomes,
• optimization of treatment costs,
• and a reimbursement model based on actual clinical results.

The visit program also includes an expert dialogue dedicated to:

• healthcare system functioning during crisis situations,
• mass casualty preparedness,
• severe burn treatment,
• regenerative medicine,
• and potential directions for clinical and scientific cooperation.