A beautiful and good person, outstanding doctor, community worker and friend, is how those who knew heart surgeon and politician Zbigniew Religa, who died on Sunday, will remember him.

Tributes have come in from across the political spectrum after learning of the death, from cancer, of the former health minister and one of Poland’s finest ever heart surgeons.

“Although Religa’s heart has stopped beating, the hearts of his patients beat on,” said former minister of economy and Religa’s friend, Janusz Steinhoff.  

“He was not a politician, more of a social worker, a friend serving people,” recalled MP Kazimierz Kutz. According to Kutz, Religa was liked even by his political opponents for his open-mindedness and engaging manners.  

Religa was an independent-minded minister of health for the Law and Justice government (2005-07) and before that a supporter of Prime Minister Donald Tusk in the presidential elections of 2005 after he himself pulling out of the race after the first ballot. In his time he cooperated with many of the post-Solidarity parties after the fall of communism and even had the respect of left wing politicians, too.  

According to Marek Balicki, former health minister under the Left Democratic Alliance, Religa had an ability to reach agreement and rise above political differences. “He was not a follower of one party. For him more important was the contents of the politics, not affiliation to a single group. The mission of his life was to create a properly functioning health service in Poland,” Balicki said.  

“Poles should be thankful to Religa,” believes current minister of health, Ewa Kopacz. “For the first heart transplant in Poland ever [in which he was team leader] for his caring and open heart. His patients should be thankful for all this,” she said.  

According to Kopacz, Religa’s life and work should be an example for young practitioners of medicine and used to recreate the prestige of the medical profession. (pg/jm) 

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Zbigniew Religa dies, thenews.pl, March 8