The allegations concern Warsaw’s Południowy Hospital, a city-run medical facility, where the zero.pl outlet said members of the Civic Coalition, Poland’s main governing party, were admitted to the emergency department faster than other patients.
The outlet reported that party figures were allegedly taken in without waiting and received comprehensive tests almost immediately after registration. The outlet did not name the alleged beneficiaries.
The case is politically sensitive in Poland, where long waits for publicly funded medical care are a major public concern.
Tusk said on Wednesday that any KO politician accused of using easier access to medical services would have to explain publicly what happened.
"If it turns out that ethical standards were violated, there will be political accountability," he said. "If the law was broken, prosecutors will deal with it."
He said he expected precise information from the Warsaw municipal government, which owns the hospital.
He also said he had asked the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), Poland’s top state audit body, to check the use of public funds in healthcare.
Asked whether there would be political consequences for Marcin Kierwiński, the head of the KO in Warsaw, Tusk said no.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk speaks to reporters in Warsaw on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
The reports followed earlier media coverage of Dawid Kacprzyk, the emergency department coordinator at Południowy Hospital and a KO councilor in Warsaw’s Ursus district.
He was reported to have earned around PLN 1.6 million (EUR 380,000, USD 440,000) last year while still undergoing specialist medical training.
Kacprzyk on Monday ceased to be a KO member.
Jarosław Szostakowski, head of the KO caucus on the Warsaw City Council, told Poland's PAP news agency that the report had not identified any specific KO member who allegedly received special treatment at the hospital.
"I understand that names were not given because of the protection of patients’ medical data, as this is very sensitive information," Szostakowski said. "At the same time, it is difficult to comment on reports concerning a vaguely defined group of people."
He said the report claimed a special pathway had existed at the hospital, but added that without specific cases, the claims could not be publicly verified.
Szostakowski also said any improper disclosure of medical documents or patient data by the hospital would be a separate and serious problem.
He said it must be established whether Kacprzyk used his employment at the hospital for actions that breached the law, procedures or medical ethics. He added that he knew of no KO activists or politicians in Warsaw who had received preferential treatment there.
"I have not heard that Południowy Hospital was a place where, as a KO politician or activist, one could receive medical help through an accelerated procedure," he said.
Szostakowski said the matter should first be examined by Warsaw authorities, including Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and the Warsaw City Council, as well as by authorized inspection bodies.
"If the case concerns activities belonging to the party’s domain, then of course, as a party, we will draw conclusions from it," he said. "There is no consent for anyone to be privileged in public healthcare."
KO politicians quoted by PAP said the zero.pl report was unconfirmed and did not give names. They noted that Kacprzyk was the only person publicly identified and that he had already left the party.
At the same time, several admitted that the allegation of priority treatment for political VIPs would be damaging if confirmed.
One KO lawmaker said the party could suffer in the 2027 parliamentary elections. "I believe that whoever makes the fewest mistakes will win those elections," the lawmaker said. "This case is definitely a mistake."
Another KO politician said Poles are highly sensitive to the state of public healthcare, waiting lists and access to doctors. "This case will be received very badly," she said.
Another KO figure told PAP that the controversy put pressure on Kierwiński and raised questions about how the party's Warsaw structures function.
Members of parliament elected from Warsaw also told PAP they had not heard of special treatment at Południowy Hospital and had not used it.
"There are no names, so there is nothing to talk about," one politician said.
Another said judgments should wait until an inspection by the National Health Fund (NFZ), which finances Poland's public healthcare system.
Source: IAR, PAP