Mother's viral post: Daughter dies after hospital 'rejected' short deposit

MANILA, Philippines — A 10-year-old girl suffering from a congenital heart disease passed away in an emergency situation after a hospital in Butuan City allegedly refused to admit her over a P20,000 deficiency in deposit.

Tutz Salarda-Chan, mother of Jannary "Janna" Chan who passed away July 16, recounted the incident on Facebook in a post on Tuesday that has gone viral with 80,000 shares as of posting time.

"We arrived at Butuan Doctors Hospital around 8 p.m. rushing to admission desk, running for my daughter's life ... only to be rejected simply because my available cash on hand was only around P8,000 to P10,000 and they demanded for P30,000.00 deposit on that very hour!" Chan said.

Update: Butuan hospital denies staff asked for down payment

Janna was being rushed to Butuan Doctors due to an "emergency situation and [her] critical condition" two days after being confined at the San Francisco Doctors Hospital in Agusan del Sur, Chan said.

"We traveled more than an hour with an ambulance assisted by two nurses from San Francisco Doctors Hospital with complete medical certificate and referral [from Janna's physician]," the mother said.

She said that upon arrival, the receiving members of the Butuan Doctors' staff refused to take the patient in and insisted that the institution is private and that the child's condition is not considered urgent.

"Hindi yan emergency! Ang emergency yung mga nasagasaan sa daan, etcetera. Eh kayo galing na kayo sa isang hospital dapat bago kayo bumiyahe itinawag nyo muna sa amin yan!" Chan quoted the emergency room attendant as saying.

"Malayo sa 30,000 yang hawak mong cash! Wala ditong charity, private hospital kami. Ano ba trabaho mo? Saan ba manggagaling ang pambayad n'yo dito?!" the staff member also said.

Chan explained that the family had funds to support the medical care, but banks were already closed and money transfers could only be done the next morning. Still, the unnamed staff member was adamant.

"Napilitan po kaming bumalik ng byahe. Habang pabalik, nag ko-coordinate po kami ng mga attending physicians ng San Francisco Doctors, at wala kaming choice kundi i-byahe ng mas malayo papuntang Davao Hospital," Chan said.

"Lalong tumatagal, lalo na pong delikado sa anak ko. At bago pa man po kami nakarating sa Davao nag-arrest na po ang anak ko. Wala na pong buhay ng makarating kami sa isang Hospital sa Davao," she added.

The hospital has not responded to media inquiries on the incident as of posting time.

Republic Act 8344 penalizing hospitals and medical clinics that refuse initial medical treatment and support in emergency or serious cases was passed in 1997.