Warsaw Southern Hospital scandal: VIP lounge, illegal funeral business and prosecutions

A series of investigations have focused on Warsaw’s Szpital Południowy after accusations that the hospital ran a private “VIP salon” for political figures and that its autopsy unit was used for a commercial funeral business. Former chief surgeon Dr Emil Jędrzejewski claimed that surgeon Emil Jędrzejewski “przychodził na SOR z jakąś dziwną listą osób” and that a “VIP salon” existed for members of the Civic Coalition. Coordinating emergency services, 28‑year‑old doctor Dawid Kacprzyk is alleged to have bypassed queues, earned about 1.6 million zł in a year, and to have overseen a prosektorium where Artur Habowski promoted a specific funeral home, offered rentals for film crews, and posted dismembered corpses on Instagram.

Prosecutors have opened multiple cases: one investigating falsified death certificates, another about a alleged listening device (later dismissed), and a third examining possible medical errors. Dr Jędrzejewski has been questioned twice, with a 29‑page protocol recorded. The vice‑premier and minister of digitisation, Krzysztof Gawkowski, publicly blamed the National Health Fund’s management for the hospital’s problems. Kacprzyk has returned roughly 80 thousand zł to the Bródnowski Hospital after a review of his contracts. The scandal continues to draw political comment and public scrutiny.