CEBU, Philippines - The Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center is now investigating reports that a newborn allegedly fell or was accidentally dropped by attending medical personnel inside the delivery room after it was born there last Wednesday afternoon.
It was the father of the baby who went to the Department of Health-7 office supposedly to inform the office of the alleged malpractice against VSMMC.
But DOH spokeswoman Suzette Jabonete yesterday told The FREEMAN they instructed him to return to the hospital to formalize the complaint there first.
“The baby’s father wanted his baby to be thoroughly checked, like an X-ray or CT scan, because accordingly, the nurse only did physical examination after the baby fell. When he went to our office a day after the baby was born to tell us that they wish to complain about what happened, we told him to go back to the hospital and formalize their complaint there,” Jabonete said.
Upon coordination with VSMMC media liaison officer Nonoy Mongaya, Jabonete said she was asked to direct the baby’s father to approach the public assistance desk at the hospital and fill out a complaint form.
She belied reports DOH has started an investigation into the alleged incident.
“We did not send any personnel to investigate what happened. As per protocol, there has to be a formal complaint filed before the hospital. If they feel they were not properly attended to, that’s the time that we can intervene and investigate,” Jabonete said.
VSMMC chief of hospital Dr. Gerardo Aquino assured that the management will not stay mum on the supposed malpractice.
“I’m in a meeting now. We are finalizing the investigation report. We will issue an official statement tomorrow (today),” Aquino said in a text message sent to The Freeman last night.
Should internal investigation results be released, Jabonete said DOH-7 would want a copy.
Last May the online community went in uproar after a newborn baby boy’s mouth was allegedly taped by the attending nurse at the nearby Cebu Puericulture Center and Maternity House, Inc.
The baby’s parents, Ryan Noval and Jasmine Badocdoc posted a photo of the baby supposedly inside the nursery and an investigation was done in the same month to look into what really happened, aiming to pin point lapses on the part of the medical health personnel who attended to the newborn.
This was headed by Regional Subcommittee for Welfare of Children whose member agencies include DOH, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Commission on Human Rights, Women and Children Protection unit of Philippine National Police, among others.
Amid rumors of settlement which the parents belied, no formal case was filed against the hospital or the medical practitioner. —/BRP (FREEMAN)