The hospital system's inhumanity to man

Dinna Gamboa-De Guzman sent to me a four-page account of the harrowing personal experience she went through last Sunday, April 2, a shocking story about man's inhumanity to man. "One will not realize the decay in the system unless he goes through the ropes and emerges with a battered spirit and a seemingly resigned fate," she said. "I do not know how many roads this story will travel. I do not know how many people will be moved and how many hearts will be touched to the core. Somehow, I feel a sense of responsibility to convey the message and it is my hope that this reaches the people running the system," Dinna added.

Let me now allow Dinna, in her own words, to tell the people what she suffered on April 2:

Last Sunday, my three-month-old nephew Zion suffered oxygen deprivation for an undetermined period of time. When my sister-in-law found him, he was already black and blue and did not show any signs of breathing. She immediately rushed him to the nearest hospital, the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center in Marikina, where the physician on duty, Dr. Buenviaje, immediately attended to Zion and succeeded in reviving him.

However, Zion remained unconscious and breathed with the help of a manual respirator. Obviously, he needed further treatment, and Dr. Buenviaje was honest enough to admit that being a government hospital, they did not have adequate facilities to monitor Zion's condition. It was a pitiful sight to see a helpless baby lying on the hospital bed with a devastated mother manually pumping the respirator.

We realized the need to transfer Zion to another hospital with better and more complete facilities. I then arranged for an ambulance to take us to another hospital. My brother specified St. Luke's Hospital, known for its reputable image. I thus called St. Luke's, to inform them to expect us at the emergency room by way of an ACECOR ambulance. I did not expect to receive a cold and distant reception.

Dr. Buenviaje assisted in facilitating the transfer. He spoke to the pedia resident on duty and he gave full details of what transpired and what he had already administered. Before any transfer, he was asked to refer the relatives of the patient to the inhouse billing department.

I called and was put on hold and referred from one department to another. When I finally talked to somebody knowledgeable, I was asked different questions about the background of my brother, specifically his financial background. I was quite irked by the insensitivity and stressed the urgency of the transfer.

I asked how much deposit they needed if that was their concern. The woman told me that a daily rough estimate was P50,000, and that a six-day stay at the ICU would cost P300,000. I was stunned, just as the whole family was. It was a Sunday and they could not possibly expect us to come up with P50,000, much less the P300,000.

Though money no longer mattered to my brother who wanted desperately to save his son, the amount quoted was simply too much. We did not take the risk of going there and be given the hassles, only because we did not have the money to cover the deposit.

In the meantime, time was running out and Zion was not showing any signs of improvement. We were referred to Children's Medical Center in Banawe. Dr. Buenviaje again explained Zion's condition to different doctors. The doctors there showed reluctance in accepting Zion because of the severity of his condition. They also mentioned the possibility of the patient dying in transit and they did not want to claim responsibility.

In desperation, we offered to sign a waiver to relieve them of any accountability. They requested for some time to confer about the matter and offered to make a return call. Meanwhile, we were asked to contact their billing department to make the necessary arrangements.

Again, I was asked to provide information regarding my brother's financial capability. Not satisfied with my answers, the woman asked to personally talk to my brother and she asked the same questions. Exasperated, my brother handed over the phone to me and asked me to take over. I then agreed to make the required P25,000 deposit, and it was just a matter of waiting for the doctors to call us back. To our disappointment, nobody called within the next 30 minutes. In the end, Dr. Buenviaje had to contact them, only to be informed that they had decided not to accept Zion into their hospital.

I sought the help of an aunt who knew one of the doctors of Medical City. With the prompt response of Dr. Deogracia, my aunt was able to arrange for Zion's transfer. When the ambulance arrived at the Medical City, a team of resident doctors and nurses immediately attended to Zion. Without questions asked, they worked at stabilizing Zion's condition who, at that time, was already having seizures every five seconds. Dr. Santos and Dr. Bayhon, a visiting doctor from St. Luke's, painstakingly worked against the odds to stabilize Zion's vital signs.

After four hours in the emergency room, Zion was brought to the ICU for further treatment. While waiting, I was asked to go to the admitting section and I was tactfully asked to provide an initial deposit of P8,000.

Up to this writing, Zion is still confined at the ICU of Medical City. He is given a 10 to 15 percent chance of survival. There is an almost 100 percent certainty of a vegetative state if ever he survives. He continues to fight and even his doctors have expressed amazement at his strength and will to live.

I visit Zion at the ICU and I try so hard to hold back my tears, for there lies a seemingly lifeless tiny being with tubes attached all over his body. His skin has black and blue spots brought about by the numerous blood extractions. I stare at his angelic face and wish for his suffering to end. I pray for Zion who is assured of one of the best seats in heaven but most especially, I pray for the parents who are shattered to see their son in such a condition.

It tears me further apart to think that if only St. Luke's and Children's Medical Center acted fast and indiscriminately, then the severity of Zion's brain damage could have been diminished. But the two hospitals were more concerned about getting paid rather than saving the life of a three-month-old baby. It is high time that they review their mission statement on health services for the public.

I never realized that getting admitted into a hospital to claim a basic right to health can entail so much bargaining to the point of begging. This experience has made me question the entire system of hospitals. What are they for? Are they out to save lives? Or are they merely there to earn money out of the misery of others? How many patients are turned down each day for various reasons? How many lives could have been saved had the patients not been refused admission into the hospitals?

As Zion continues to fight for his life, what we are praying for is something short of a miracle. However, we believe God is merciful and will provide for the family, whatever the outcome. In the meantime, I want this message to be known and maybe, in Zion's struggle to live, others might be saved.

Art A. Borjal's e-mail address: