Sacred Heart Hospital denies accusation of malpractice
The management of
Dr. Delia Evardo, medical director of
“It’s definitely not true. For emergency cases, we always admit patients even if they do not pay deposits,” she told The Freeman during a telephone interview.
Evardo likewise sent The Freeman the copy of the letter of DOH regional director Susana Madarieta to the hospital stating the agency’s observations on the case.
“We were enlightened with the sequence of events presented to us by your staff during our meeting last January 16 in your office. All necessary medical treatment and laboratory work ups were done and were documented properly to fully justify that there was no negligence made on your part,” Madarieta said in her letter.
The health official, however still asked the hospital a narration of the events that transpired from the time of admission of the patient up to the time he died to confirm if the allegations of the Gulfan couple was true.
Likewise, DOH asked for the copy of the actions taken at the billing section regarding the down payment or deposit for purposes of investigation, because it is the couple’s main complaint.
Evardo said they will submit to DOH what has been asked for in order to answer all the accusations of the complainants.
“We are so exposed with charity cases. We even conduct medical missions to help those who are in need of medical attention,” she stressed.
According to her, when seven-year-old Stanley Gulfan was brought to the hospital on December 11, Dr. Evelyn Emverda, the hospital’s resident doctor who attended to the boy, immediately advised the couple to have their son undergo complete blood count (CBC) after hearing from the couple that the boy has fever.
“Basta fever gani, especially children, we will immediately recommend for CBC because we know that dengue is now very common,” Evardo said.
She added that the prescriptions of Dr. Emverda (Maalox, Hydrite and Ibuprofen) were based on the initial findings on the boy because his platelet count of 157,000 is still within the normal range.
With this, she added that Emverda advised for a repeat CBC after 12 hours but the Gulfans did not come back.
When they came back she said the boy was already weak and was immediately given attention by their medical staffs, contrary to what the Gulfan couple is claiming.
“They were the ones who refused to cooperate with our medical staff. Even if the boy was not yet admitted he was already given IV line and paracetamol for his fever,” Evardo said.
The Gulfan couple has filed a criminal complaint for medical malpractice/negligence against Emverda.
They alleged that aside from a misdiagnosis, the hospital staff also did not give medical attention and refused to admit their son until they showed receipts that they made a deposit. — Wenna A. Berondo/NLQ
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