Capitol ‘absolves’ hospital of fault in infant’s death

THE death of four-month-old infant Brian James Pinote in the Barili District Hospital last Dec. 11 was not due to hospital negligence, a Capitol official said.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Cynthia Genosolango reiterated her earlier statement that what happened was a result of miscommunication between the nurse and the boy’s grandmother.

Dr. Lily Aranas, a Capitol consultant, echoed Genosolango’s sentiment.

Based on Pinote’s records, Aranas said, the infant was already severely dehydrated when he was brought to the hospital.

Statistics

A patient brought to a hospital has a three- to 3.5-percent mortality rate within 48 hours of confinement, she said. After that period, the mortality rate drops to one to two percent, she said.

“In fact ang kadaghanan idagan sa ospital kanang hapit na mamatay (majority of those rushed to the hospital are near death),” said Aranas a retired Department of Health regional director.

Genosolango said the infant was under the care of his grandmother when he should have been breastfeeding from his mother.

“Water supply in many rural areas can be scarce and sometimes this is not sterilized properly when given to the child,” she said in Cebuano.

She also pointed out that Pinote did not receive complete vaccines.

According to his aunt, he only received three vaccinations: Rotavirus, Pentavalent and PCV 3.

Genosolango said they will check which rural health unit gave the vaccines to Pinote and find out when.

Medical consultants

In a related development, the Capitol sought the help of three specialist doctors to serve as Gov. Hilario Davide III’s advisers.

Their tasks will include helping the Capitol run district and provincial hospitals, evaluating their capabilities and making sure these facilities achieve their objectives.

Aranas was joined by Dr. Rene Catan, an orthopedic surgeon, and Dr. Manuel Villamor, who specializes in general surgery and advanced laparoscopic surgery, in a press conference yesterday.

Villamor explained how they will share their specialty with doctors assigned in different hospitals.

“We are making our specialty, (a) group of private doctors, who will have open lines for consultation all throughout the day, 24/7 and 365 days a year,” said Villamor.

They said they plan to set up Internet stations in all district and provincial hospitals so medical staff in these facilities will have easy access to their consultation services.

They said it’s better to see something than having it explained over the phone.

Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino clarified that the Capitol took on the three doctors “not to oversee operations of hospitals but complement services already there.”

He described the role of these doctors as outside specialists looking in.

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