Value stream: Cross-Border Medicine (MEDiTOUR) · Linked: HCPL Academy · Medical Care Department · Clinical Trials Department · Innovation Center
Healthcare Poland Janusz Korczak with Sheba is a Polish–Israeli cooperation between the Healthcare Poland Foundation and The Sheba Fund for Health Services and Research, established by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 6 October 2026 at Tel HaShomer. It covers a joint brand bearing the name of a patron, clinical knowledge transfer and training, and an orderly access pathway for Polish patients to therapies not available at home.
Mission: to make the standard of the world’s best hospitals a point of reference for Polish clinical practice — as an exchange, not a purchase — so that the benefit arises in Poland and for the patient treated in Poland.
Two-level architecture
Level 1 — brand and governance (MoU)
The memorandum governs the cooperation name, the joint brand with its patron, the use of names, confidentiality and the institutional relationship between the Parties.
Level 2 — operations (OFA)
Patient pathways, qualification, service levels, data protection and settlements will be agreed in a separate Operational Framework Agreement. Each further area requires its own specific agreement.
Clinical responsibility
All medical responsibility, authority and clinical decision-making rest solely with the Israeli partner, under Israeli law.
Why Janusz Korczak
Henryk Goldszmit — Janusz Korczak — was a paediatrician, educator and writer, a Polish Jew who in August 1942 refused to save himself and walked with the children of the Orphans’ Home to the Umschlagplatz. His memory belongs to Poland and Israel at the same time. He left a measure we adopt as our own: a person who depends on the care of others is a subject with dignity, a voice and rights, not an object of concern. That is why paediatrics and neonatology are at the heart of this cooperation.
Scope — seven areas of exchange
Paediatrics and neonatology
Continuity of care for the newborn and the chronically ill child — from diagnosis to rehabilitation and home.
Oncology
Joint tumour boards, case exchange and fellowships for Polish teams.
Cardiology and neurology
Combining treatment with research; the experience of Polish centres working within a public system.
Clinical research
Designing studies with clinicians from day one; joint projects involving Polish sites.
Protocols and a culture of quality
How a protocol is created, implemented, measured and improved; patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs).
System and staff resilience
Hospital crisis preparedness, simulation training, working under prolonged strain — trauma and stress.
The Parties may convene a periodic bilateral scientific forum, alternating between Warsaw and Tel Aviv.
Six lines of work in Poland
- A network of physician-integrators — doctors able to bring solutions from the world’s top ten hospitals into their own centres, with a ready protocol and the ability to implement, measure and defend it before their team.
- International certification and career paths — exchange programmes end with a recognised certificate and a real effect on professional development.
- A faster route for innovation — support for assessing and implementing innovation, including through regulatory sandboxes and rigorous evidence for health technology assessment (HTA).
- A funding channel for treatment outside Poland and Europe — for technologies and protocols not yet available in Poland, until they are integrated into Polish practice; with the participation of the National Health Fund (NFZ) where the law allows. This is work on the system, not a promise of funding for an individual patient.
- Quality measured by outcomes — knowledge transfer on Israel’s national quality indicators programme (QICH) and on Value-Based Healthcare: assessing treatment outcomes from the patient’s perspective rather than the number of procedures.
- Quality to the JCI standard — preparing Polish hospitals for the Joint Commission International standard, in full or in selected elements.
The patient pathway
The entry point is the treating physician, not an advertisement. The same pathway is open to patients from other European countries.
- The treating physician submits a specific clinical question.
- The Foundation checks that the documentation is complete and indicates a secure channel for transferring data.
- Consultation at the Israeli centre — the opinion belongs to the centre; on the Israeli side the patient is handled by entities authorised under Israeli law.
- The patient learns the cost and timeline before the decision, not after it. We do not promise reimbursement or funding.
- Treatment — clinical responsibility rests solely with the Israeli centre.
- Return to the treating physician with complete documentation. Continuity of care at home is a condition, not an extra.
HCPL departments involved
Cross-Border Medicine — MEDiTOUR
The patient pathway; TQAMS, the standard for providers receiving patients from abroad.
Medical Care Department and GLFA
Clinical immersions of 1–2 and 3–4 weeks and 2–5 day courses, with sponsored places for residents and young specialists.
HCPL Academy
Staff for international patients; first course: “Medical Tourism Coordinator”.
Clinical Trials Department
Faster trial start-up and joint projects involving Polish sites.
Innovation Center · Living Lab
Validation of MedTech and AI solutions in a real hospital environment.
Security · CyberC4HE
Hospital resilience in a crisis, including a digital one — exchange of protocols and training.
Quality, Audit & Certification Center (CJAiC HCPL)
TQAMS audits and accreditation of providers receiving patients from abroad; quality indicators and Value Based Healthcare benchmarks — Piotr Welenc.
Legal & Compliance
The Operational Framework Agreement, patient-information exchange with Sheba, data processing agreements and GDPR consents for referred patients — Ewelina Bogiel.
Governance and timeline
| Parties | Healthcare Poland Foundation (Poland) · The Sheba Fund for Health Services and Research (Israel) |
|---|---|
| Signed | 6 October 2026, Tel HaShomer (Ramat Gan) |
| Nature | The memorandum is non-binding in principle; the provisions on the name and patron, use of names, confidentiality, independence of the Parties, governing law and term are binding. Each Party bears its own costs. |
| Term | 12 months from the last signature, with a one-time six-month renewal |
| Next step | Negotiation of the Operational Framework Agreement (OFA) — in good faith, within 90 days |
| Advisory body | Joint Program Board, co-chaired by both Parties — advisory only, established under the OFA |
| Coordinating partners | EMAS Foundation (EMASMED) |
| HCPL point of contact | Michał P. Dybowski, President of the Board, Healthcare Poland Foundation |
| HCPL project team | Piotr Welenc, Director, Quality, Audit & Certification Center — p.welenc@healthcarepoland.pl Ewelina Bogiel, Director of Legal & Compliance — ewelina.bogiel@healthcarepoland.pl Marcin Karolewski, MD, Director, Medical Care Department |
A name that obliges — the MoU signing articleMEDiTOURMedical Care Department and GLFAProject map
Invitation to cooperate
We invite treating physicians, hospitals and research centres, universities and medical staff who want to co-create the network of physician-integrators, exchange programmes and joint research projects.
Healthcare Poland Foundation — global@healthcarepoland.pl · tel. +48 787 000 827
Michał P. Dybowski — michal@dybowski.co
