Graphic photos of human corpses published on social media, accounts from families about the promotion of one funeral home, and allegations concerning private business activity conducted inside a public morgue are among the new issues surrounding the operation of Warsaw’s South Hospital. It has not been established, however, whose bodies are shown in the photographs posted online.
One of the main threads in the latest publication by Portal Zero concerns the social media activity of Artur Habowski, the coordinator of the morgue at Warsaw’s South Hospital.
According to the outlet, his Instagram profile contains photographs showing dismembered human bodies. These allegedly include images of burned bodies, decapitated persons and gunshot wounds. Some of the material has been marked by Instagram as graphic content and is available only after user confirmation.
The authors stress, however, that they were unable to establish whose bodies appear in the published photographs. One source connected to South Hospital suggested they may have come from the hospital morgue. The authors clearly note, however, that this has not been confirmed.
Portal Describes Private Activity
The publication also addresses additional activity allegedly conducted by Habowski. According to the outlet, the morgue coordinator offers training in body preparation and embalming.
According to the outlet’s findings, some of these courses allegedly took place on the premises of South Hospital. Sources quoted by the portal claim they were conducted on the bodies of deceased patients. Families, according to these accounts, allegedly did not know that the preparation of the bodies was being carried out as part of private training activity.
The report also states that in April 2024, Habowski offered the morgue for rent as a filming location.
“I can arrange hearses, coffins, urns and whatever else you want,” he wrote in one Facebook group.
The outlet also cites a comment published on kliniki.pl:
“The last straw was the situation in the morgue, when a TV series was being filmed there during the hours when death certificates were being collected, and the crew was shushing the families of the deceased!!!!!”
The authors also point to photographs showing several empty coffins published by Habowski. They note that it is unclear why the coffins were in the morgue.
Dramatic Accounts from Families and Staff
The latest findings do not end there. The outlet spoke with families of the deceased, employees of South Hospital and representatives of the funeral industry. According to their accounts, people handling formalities after the death of loved ones were allegedly encouraged to use the services of a specific funeral home.
The portal notes that under Article 13 of the Act on Medical Activity, the provision and advertising of funeral services on hospital premises is prohibited.
The publication also describes Artur Habowski’s business ties. He is president of Pros-med, a company whose registered business activity, according to the National Court Register, also includes funeral and related services.
The company’s other co-owner is Dominika Jaskuła. As zero.pl notes, until September 2025 she was co-owner and management board member of the Sacrum funeral home, operating, among other places, in Warsaw’s Ursynów district.
The outlet also draws attention to the fact that death certificates at South Hospital are issued in the morgue. According to the outlet, this is unusual; in other facilities contacted by the journalists, such documents are usually issued by statistics departments or ward secretariats.
One woman described to the portal her visit to collect her mother’s death certificate.
“I collected the death certificate in the morgue. When I was handling the documents and asked what came next, Habowski began saying that his mother had also died recently and that he knew a funeral home he had used. He encouraged me, saying it was the best option and that nowhere would be cheaper, that they would handle everything and I would not have to do anything. Identification, two signatures and I’m gone. That’s how it sounded. He gave me contact details and told me to call the funeral home. He also gave me his own number in case I needed help. Later, people from that funeral home called me and quoted some insane price. So I found another funeral home. I had no money, so I went where it was cheapest.”
The woman also described another visit to the morgue, this time to identify her mother’s body.
“I was called in again for identification. This time Habowski was no longer kind or helpful. It was like two different people. I stood in the corridor and did not know where to go. I waited for an hour. He called me and said I had to enter from the other side. I had to walk past corpses, and on the way I passed a chapel with a body prepared for farewell. He said I had to identify the body. Without even asking whether I was ready, he unzipped the bag and showed me the corpse. He asked: is this your mother? If yes, then thank you, goodbye. It happened in the corridor. I still have that image in front of my eyes. Later, we went to collect the body. There was an agreed time, but we stood there for about 40 minutes. An employee came out and said we had to wait.”
Further Accounts Concern the Release of Bodies
The portal also describes the story of a person whose loved one died in another hospital and was then transported to South Hospital.
“A person close to me died in another hospital and was transported to South Hospital. I have very negative experiences connected with that hospital’s morgue. It turned out there was some regulation, which I had never seen anywhere, stating that the collection of a body must be arranged one or two working days in advance. The body is also not released unless three days have passed. The funeral company we hired came specially from Podlasie and could basically only kiss the door handle. They told me they had never encountered such obstruction from a hospital morgue before. Only when I raised a fuss and began threatening to report the matter to the Patient Rights Ombudsman did they decide to relent and release the body.”
The portal also quotes another source who claims that families were encouraged to use the services of one funeral home.
“Habowski strongly pushed patients’ families toward the services of Sacrum, where his partner in Pros-med was also a partner. Families are also hit with offers to prepare bodies in the hospital.”
Similar allegations were made by one South Hospital employee.
“Previously, there were fluctuations; different funeral homes would come, sometimes one had more business, sometimes another. But when this funeral home appeared — Sacrum — everything stopped. One funeral home was being forced on people. Families complained, funeral homes complained too, but all complaints were swept under the carpet. Habowski was rude, obstructed the issuing of death certificates, and I received signals from funeral homes that he made families wait two or three hours. That was standard.”
Former South Hospital director Artur Krawczyk told the outlet that he had “no knowledge in this area.” Former director Anna Łukasik did not respond to the outlet’s questions.
Ten Questions Left Unanswered
According to the portal, ten questions were sent to Artur Habowski concerning, among other things, the issuing of death certificates in the morgue, the advertising of funeral services, the organization of commercial training, renting the morgue to film crews, storing coffins, and the photos posted online.
Habowski refused to answer.
“At this moment, I will not provide any information for the good of the ongoing proceedings,” Artur Habowski said.
He explained that most of the questions concern a prosecutorial proceeding in which he has the status of an injured party.
Investigation Into Death Certificates Underway
The article recalls that the matter also concerns an ongoing investigation into the forgery of 20 death certificates between August and September 2025.
According to the outlet, Habowski allegedly discovered that the documents had been issued using his stamp while he was absent from the hospital. He was the one who filed a report with law enforcement authorities. The investigation was opened on May 12, 2026, and investigators are currently awaiting documentation from the civil registry office.
Portal Zero also notes that it is unknown what connection, if any, exists between that proceeding and the allegations described by the outlet concerning the operation of the morgue, the promotion of funeral services or the conduct of private business activity on the premises of a public hospital.
Dominika Jaskuła, Habowski’s partner in Pros-med, also did not answer journalists’ questions. South Hospital, meanwhile, told the portal that the matter is complicated and that it was unable to respond within the deadline given. The hospital also did not indicate when it might respond to the questions presented.
