In recent days, there has been a story in the press that gives the Philippines a huge black eye. It taints Bantayan Island, one of my favorite places in the Philippines. And it leaves me in disbelief. My head shaking and my skin crawling.
A hospital had a janitor insert a catheter into a patient because they were short on staff!
You’ve got to be kidding me! The hospital staff had trained him to do this according to press reports. Now I have no first hand
Bantayaan Island in The Philippines
knowledge. I’d love for this to be some kind of mistake and that it never happened.
The patient is an employee of the mayor and the procedure went badly. The man was moved to a hospital in Cebu City because of complications. The hospital in Cebu City indicated that the procedure was done improperly.
They trained him to do this? Does that mean he has done it before? I don’t know. I see reports and know board certified nurses that can’t get jobs in the Philippines. So instead they supply the demand with a janitor?
Usually, it is a foreigner doing something stupid in the Philippines. Giving the rest of us a bad name. This time though its not a foreigner. This time Filipino are scaring foreigners away.
I don’t believe this happens a lot but I asked myself that question when I read the story. How often does this happen?
You can get very good medical care in the Philippines. It is my impression that Manila has some modern facilities as does Cebu City. Chong Hua Hospital in Cebu is often cites as the best. Other prefer Cebu Doctors Hospital. I haven’t spent any time in Manila so I don’t know much about the medical situation there. Only what I’ve seen on the web and some that looks good to me.
You can save a lot of money by having procedures performed in the Philippines. Dentistry is very cheap compared to the USA. Just picking a medical practitioner out of thin air or the yellow pages in any country is not a very good idea. Check with the locals or with foreigners living in the Philippines when looking for a doctor or dentist here. Recently a visitor to this site posted both a negative experience and then a positive experience with a dentist after seeking a referral.
The Philippines is probably going to release a medical tourism visa soon. The Bureau of Immigration (BI) announced they are drafting regulations for that now. Filipino are smart people and I don’t have to tell them anything. They already know. This however is not going to create confidence in those considering the Philippines as a place to receive medical care.
I love my life in the Philippines. I think it is a great place to live, especially if you are retired or have limited income that can follow you here.
I’ll continue to follow this story. I’m usually a forgiving person. I usually don’t think people should be fired over a single mistake. I don’t know who was in charge of training the janitor to perform a medical procedure. It sounds like there was planning involved in this. A way to save money. The people responsible for creating this situation should be held accountable. I don’t think firing is enough.
The mayor in Bantayan, well there are probably several of them since there are several cities, has asked for an investigation. I hope the governor of Cebu gets involved too. I will post updates to this story as I find them. Hopefully some good will come from this coming to light. My good wishes to the man that had this happen to him.
What are your medical experiences in the Philippines, good and bad?
UPDATE:
He wasn’t a hospital janitor as reported by a local daily—he was an “institutional aide.”
So went the Capitol’s clarification about the painful experience in a district hospital in Bantayan Island in which the aide, Arturo Abello, incorrectly attached a catheter to 68-year-old patient Astero Rivera.
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Tagged with: Bantayan Island • Foreigners • Living In The Philippines • Medical Tourism
Filed under: Medical Treatment In The Philippines
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I would assume that the hospital is run like anything else a business. So hiring more nurses may not be an option available as they do ot have the funds. The fact that they must regularly get overwhelmed with patients enough to have to train the janitor is proof of that and truly a sad situation. Luckily it was not a life threatening thing or caused pernament damage. Things could have been worse but this one incedent does dot scare me away or think that they were grossly negligent.
I believe botching that procedure can cause long lasting if not permanent damage. I know someone it caused long lasting problems and surgeries to correct. not sure if ever fully corrected.
I don’t believe that they cannot hire another nurse and if they can’t then they need to wait till the next medical personal is available for the procedure.
As you know, I’m usually pretty forgiving and accepting on a lack of funding in the Philippines but not this time. Not saying you are just I wont make any excuses on this one.
I do not believe that they couldn’t hire a nurse. If not, fire the janitor and clerks and have them perform those duties too. Have the administrators take a pay cut. Whatever it takes as opposed to this ridiculous situation.
Yeah, okay, so I’m a bit riled up over this. Someone will look at this and situation and say, naw, I think I’ll go some place else and that will cost the Philippines more than the P10,000 a month she’ll make, if she’s lucky.
There are a lot of nurses that work for free when they start out. They do volunteer work. And they are willing to do it to gain experience in hopes of someday finding a job.
Sorry, with the graft that has been coming out in senate hearings regarding the military brass, I’m sure there is enough money to fix this.
Graft may not be the correct word. Graft implies illegal and I’m not sure the payments the military brass have been giving themselves were illegal. Most feel improper.
Privacy banking laws in the Philippines sets up the situation for people to easily hide their ill gotten gains. But that is up to the Philippine people to decide if they w ant to keep or change.
PS not yelling at you if it sounds like it. This situation really angered me.