By BEN SERRANO
Correspondent
BUTUAN City–The Department of Health has upheld a March 9 decision to suspend the Butuan Doctors’ Hospital (BDH) in connection with the death of a girl who was allegedly refused admittance because her family could not give a P30-thousand cash deposit.
The DOH’s Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau issued the March 9 ruling following an investigation into the circumstances that resulted in the death of 10-year old Jannary Chan last year.
The bureau ordered the hospital suspended for one month.
The DOH said the Department is duty-bound to follow Republic Act 8344 that penalizes hospitals that do not admit patients for treatment because they could not give a downpayment.
The DOH also acknowledged the quasi-judicial powers of the Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau to suspend erring hospitals or even revoked their licenses.
Based on the order, BDH is allowed to continue treating patients, especially those under intensive care, who were already admitted into the hospital but it is prohibitted from accepting or admitting new patients during the one-month suspension period.
BDH will also be required to submit to the Bureau or to the DOH regional office in Caraga an explanation or justification on why there is a need for it to continue the treatment patients who were already confined at the start of the one-month suspension.
The six-page suspension order was signed by lawuer Nicolas Lutero III, director of the Bureau of Health Facilities and Services Regulation of the DOH.
The DOH denied the motion for reconsideration filed by BDH for lack of merit.
“One of the evils RA 8344 seeks to avoid is unnecessarily jeopardizing the life and death of any patients not only those who are poor but also to those who are wealthy but unable to make an outright deposit or any other form of advance payment. Explicably, time is of the essence in order to prevent death or permanent disability of emergency or serious patients,” reads a portion of the decision.
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