To inject ‘new blood’: Province hospitals up for revamp

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu Provincial Health Office (PHO) is thinking of reshuffling its medical personnel to establish “change” and improvement in the management and operations of province-operated hospitals.

Initially, PHO planned to reassign doctors Renato Cairo, head of Oslob District Hospital; Elvira Grengia of Isidro Kintanar Memorial Hospital in Argao; and Clinia Seguerra of Minglanilla District Hospital.

PHO Chief Cynthia Genosolango explained that the change was meant to “inject new blood.”

She said that if the rotation works, a full reshuffle may be implemented in all district and provincial hospitals.

“Maybe it’s going to work,” she told reporters, optimistically.

The change came amidst the controversy besetting the Minglanilla District Hospital involving the death of a one-year-old child two weeks ago.

Genosolango admitted the reshuffling has something to do with the incident, when it was reported medicines were not immediately administered on one-year-old Mary Jane Bariquit, who died due to severe dehydration, allegedly because the family lacked money to purchase them.

Mary Jane’s mother only had P200 when she brought her to the hospital and the medicines cost P700.

During a subsequent inquiry, PHO also noted a “lapse of judgment” by the attending doctor, who reportedly asked the child’s family to purchase the prescribed medicines outside when these were available at the hospital’s pharmacy.

The doctor has opted not to issue any statement yet on the matter.

But during the annual budget hearing at the Capitol yesterday, Seguerra spoke out and said Mary Jane was already suffering from fever for five days, and diarrhea and vomiting for two days before the child was brought to the hospital at 10:30 p.m. on December 6.

She said Mary Jane was properly attended to when brought to the emergency room, where medical staff tried to administer medicines to the child but to no avail since her veins already collapsed.

During the hearing, Seguerra, who had been keeping mum since the incident, started with a remark that piqued Genosolango, which resulted to a short exchange of words.

“I am glad I have been asked to talk” Seguerra said.

Genosolango shot back, “You were asked,” to which Seguerra said nobody did.

Genosolango, though, insisted and said, “I did.”

(The PHO earlier prohibited any staff of the Minglanilla District Hospital to comment on the issue to prevent giving “wrong” information to the media.)

As to the reshuffling plan, which she hoped to implement “as soon as possible,” Genosolango said she has yet to confer with Governor Hilario Davide III about it.

She was present during the budget hearing to defend PHO’s spending plan,  after her office requested as next year’s budget P433 million, which is 5.87 percent higher than this year’s P409 million.  (FREEMAN)