Warsaw mayor accepts two deputy resignations after Southern Hospital scandal; Kaczyński demands further dismissals

Resignations accepted

Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski announced on Friday, 3 July, that he had accepted the resignations of two deputy mayors: Renata Kaznowska and Aldona Machnowska-Góra. Kaznowska oversaw health and education; Machnowska-Góra handled culture and heritage and sat on the supervisory board of the Southern Hospital. The departures follow weeks of media reports about malfeasance at the municipal facility, including inflated earnings of a doctor who is also a former city councillor, a VIP ward reportedly used by politicians, and errors in an in‑vitro procedure.

Both deputy mayors behaved exceptionally responsibly. It was not an easy decision, but in the interest of the highest standards that must be introduced in the face of everything that happened, I accepted these resignations.

Trzaskowski stressed he was not determining anyone’s guilt, which would be left to prosecutors and the courts, but said political accountability demanded action.

Trzaskowski’s defence and new duty split

Hours after the resignations, the city published a new division of responsibilities. Trzaskowski personally took over the Culture Bureau and the Sports and Recreation Bureau. Deputy mayor Tomasz Mencina gained oversight of the civil registry, while deputy Karolina Bober was assigned architecture, education, geomatics, and conservation. City secretary Maciej Fijałkowski was given health policy and the investment portfolio.

In a television interview, Trzaskowski defended Mencina, who had faced calls to step down. He argued that Mencina’s owner‑supervision role had received no formal signals of irregularity at the Southern Hospital, unlike a previous case at the Grochowski Hospital where anonymous tips had prompted a swift response.

Here, no information reached the owner supervision. That is the problem of the Southern Hospital – there were no formal signals.

Trzaskowski also questioned the credibility of whistle‑blower Emil Jędrzejewski, a former department head who revealed irregularities in an interview. The mayor noted that Jędrzejewski and the physician at the centre of the scandal, Dawid Kacprzyk, were locked in a personal conflict, with both men allegedly defrauding the hospital for large sums.

Political reaction and calls for further steps

Opposition leader Jarosław Kaczyński published a sharp statement on X, arguing the resignations were insufficient. He pointed out that the deputy mayor supervising the Southern Hospital – Tomasz Mencina – remained in post, and that Civic Coalition and Polish People’s Party members on hospital boards had not been touched.

The deputy mayor supervising the Southern Hospital still holds his position, and the Civic Coalition and PSL activists on the boards and supervisory boards of Warsaw hospitals, who approved this practice, have not lost a hair. The political “Godfather” is untouchable. The system holds firm.

Kaczyński earlier called for an independent Public Trust Commission, composed of lawyers, doctors, experts and representatives of social organisations, to investigate the affair.

City council members also demanded more. PiS caucus head Dariusz Figura insisted Mencina must resign, while Agata Diduszko‑Zyglewska of the Left‑Miasto Jest Nasze‑Wspólne Jutro caucus said she was waiting for the results of the city hall audit and expected full disclosure. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, meanwhile, confirmed the existence of VIP wards and gave the health ministry and the National Health Fund until Tuesday to recommend reforms.

Current resignations are unfortunately too little and too late. We are waiting for the next steps.