Doc ‘refuses’ ambulance request, suspended

CEBU, Philippines - A doctor in Minglanilla town has been suspended for allegedly refusing to ferry a hit-and-run patient using the hospital-owned ambulance that allegedly led to the latter’s death.

Dr. Bella Villagana, chief medical officer of the Minglanilla District Hospital, was preventively suspended pending investigation by the Cebu Provincial Health Office.

The PHO declined to reveal further details about the incident while the investigation is ongoing.

According to the Facebook post of Marvey Bastida Cano, he found an unidentified man lying on the ground near Bethany Christian School in Barangay Tunghaan, Minglanilla at around 1:10 a.m. Wednesday. The man was bathed in his own blood, barely breathing but apparently still alive.

Cano said he left the victim and rushed to the police station to ask for help. Ten minutes after, the police officers arrived.

He said his friends, Andrea Esparaguera and a certain Elvie, were asked by bystanders to get help from the hospital.

But the hospital nurse reportedly did not grant their request to use the ambulance because “the brand-new ambulance is only for patient transfers and not for rescue operations.”

“Taud-taud ang mga bayot nasumbalik lagot kaayo’g mga nawong kay di pwede gamiton ang ambulansya nga mo-rescue sa karsada kay hospital-to-hospital ra,” Cano’s Facebook post read.

The Facebook post garnered 4,100 likes and 3,349 shares as of 8 p.m. yesterday.

Cano said he personally went to the hospital for the second time to seek help.

“Dali kaayo ko nakaadto. Pag-ingon nako ‘Kinsa gu’y gaingon ana?’ kay nahugyaw akong tingog. Gi-refer ko niya sa two ka nurse or doctor ang usa,” he said.

However, he said the male nurse also refused to help them.

Cano quoted the nurse as saying, “Di baya na pwede kay ang function ana hospital-to-hospital ra. Adtoa lang ninyo si Mario kay trabaho man na niya. Pasensya di gyud pwede.”

Mario is the ambulance driver of Barangay Tunghaan.

“Sir, guba ang kay Mario didto mi gikan. Naa diay na’y limitation kun kanus-a mo-rescue ang ambulansya nga kinahanglan di pwede mo-rescue sa karsada? Unsa gyod di ay? Buhi pa tawo sir, pwede pa matabang,” Cano appealed to the nurse.

Cano said the nurse told him that it was the “instruction from the Capitol.”

He said a female nurse also told him to ask assistance from the cities of Naga and Talisay.

“Ha? Na-unsa gud ka mam? Di ta mauwaw naa gud tay atoa. Kabag-o ana. Lalis mi’g taas pa. Din-a nako ma-recall kay gakurog nako,” Cano’s post read.

The victim was only brought to the hospital in Minglanilla by a police patrol car at 2 a.m. or about an hour after Cano and his companions found the victim.

However, by the time, the patient arrived in the hospital, he was already dead.

The report enraged Governor Hilario Davide III yesterday.

He said hospitals should not turn their backs on people in need.

“Mga ing-ana gani di gyud balibaran. Anybody nga nagkinahanglan sa tabang nato, nadisgrasya pananglitan. Hospitals are here to save lives. Who knows kun nadala pa to sa ambulansya dayun mabuhi pa unta?” Davide said.

“We’ll act accordingly. Paabot ta sa recommendation.  I was angry nga mao to ang nahitabo. Wala baya gyud polisiya ang Kapitolyo,” he added.

Davide said the two nurses involved in the incident will not be suspended as they just adhered to the alleged memorandum of their superior. — Diana Rose Ompad and Dulcelyn Insong (FREEMAN)