Lourdes hospital reacts to complaint

WE have received a 1,500-word letter from the law office representing Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital reacting to a 405-word item in our Postscript of Jan. 5, 2016, subtitled “Stiff fees of hospitals, doctors hit.” We reprint below the substantive part of the letter that can fit in our space:

“Note that we have no objection to your motherhood assertion that ‘there must be some way of regulating and even standardizing most of the professional fees collected by doctors from their patients’ to ‘minimize malpractice and ensuing complaints.’ However, you proceeded from there to meticulously demolish our client to notoriety by conveniently quoting a one-sided selfserving letter of ‘writer Dr. Erick San Juan’ addressed to the president of the Private Hospital Association of the Philippines insinuating that OLLH and its doctors engaged in medical malpractice and extortion.

“Initially written as a blind item (in The Philippine STAR version), your article portrayed ‘Lourdes Hospital’ in Sta. Mesa as the heartless medical institution that charged Mr. San Juan’s employee, Alejandro Estelloso, with exorbitant fees after experiencing malpractice in the hands of its doctors on ‘Nov 28, 2015.’ By presenting your opinion as a news article, you made the ordinary readers think and believe that our client:

“1) charged a poor ‘car wash boy’ with hospital bills amounting to P75,517.97 for the ‘treatment of a half-inch wound in the palm;’ 2) threatened to add a ‘surcharge’ to the hospital bills of the patient for every day of delay in the settlement of his total bill even though he was no longer being treated; 3) rendered only a ‘very minor operation’ on Mr. Estelloso; 4) failed to disclose to the patient the cost of the medical procedures beforehand; 5) required him to make a deposit of P10,000 prior to admittance; 6) failed to give him immediate treatment; 7) made him stay overnight at the hospital in an ‘overcrowded room with several patients’; and 8) forced Mr. San Juan to bail out Mr. Estelloso.

“Such imputations are grossly unfair, deviously misleading and outrightly malicious. Had you exercised ethical and responsible journalism and inquired with our client before publishing your article, you would have easily discovered that the treatment was NOT for ‘a half-inch wound in the palm’ but was for a three-month old ‘fungating mass right thenar area, hand with hematoma.’ Attached is a photograph of the wound taken with the consent of the patient.

“Anyone looking at the picture would instantly realize that OLLH did NOT perform a ‘very minor operation’ but a major one. After three months of neglect, the patient’s injury festered into a disease. Thus, the OLLH medical team wasted no time in performing the operation on the same day he was diagnosed. Everyone who has seen Mr. Estelloso’s condition prior to the operation would probably tell him that he was lucky his hand didn’t get amputated. By itself, the photograph could more than justify the bill of P75,517.97. Yet, we challenge you to let your own physicians scrutinize each item in the patient’s bill. We are confident that OLLH prices are reasonable and comparable to other private hospitals taking into consideration the nature of the wound and the treatments given, which includes the administration of anti-tetanus serum, IV fluids, antibiotics, debridement and finally an operation for excision biopsy of the fungating mass right thenar area and evacuation of hematoma. All these were necessary to save the patient’s hand. Attached is the patient’s statement of account listing all the treatments and procedures.

“Yes, you reported that our client and its doctors gave Mr. Estelloso a P10,000 discount; hence, the final bill was only P65,517.97. However, you failed to mention that the amount could have been partially or even fully subsidized or financed through PhilHealth and SSS benefits had Mr. San Juan and Mr. Estelloso been religiously remitting their contributions as employer and employee. Upon learning that the patient had no PhilHealth and SSS coverage, our client suggested that they apply for PCSO medical assistance. But, it was Mr. San Juan who rejected the idea.

“Consequently, there is no truth to the accusation of Mr. San Juan that he was ‘forced to bail out Estelloso.’ Our client never forced, threatened, intimidated or coerced Mr. San Juan nor Mr. Estolloso to pay the bill. It is not OLLH’s fault that they cannot avail of PhilHealth or SSS benefits. Neither is it the fault of the hospital if they do not want to apply for medical assistance with the PCSO. You should be aware that, as an employer, it is Mr. San Juan’s legal and moral obligation to provide medical assistance to his employees.

“Again, had you called up our client, you would have learned that all procedures and treatments undergone by the patient were with his written consent. The patient was also properly notified beforehand of the estimated cost. The fact that OLLH requested from him a P10,000 deposit is a clear indication that the treatment would be costly.

“As for the room, it was the patient’s choice. However, we take exception to another misleading allegation that it was ‘overcrowded.’ Had you asked our client, you would have been informed that the room can comfortably accommodate four patients. And at the time of Mr. Estelloso’s confinement, there were only three patients in the room. Attached is a photograph of the room.

“Finally, the allegation of ‘surcharge’ for every day of delay in the settlement of hospital bill is false and unfounded. The truth is that our client does not charge any penalty for delay. What is only being charged is the daily cost of the room and board for a patient’s extended stay. Our client enforces its right to payment only through lawful means.

“In your article, you made it appear that Mr. Estelloso and Mr. San Juan were victims. But the real victims were the OLLH nurses and staff who personally experienced Mr. San Juan’s arrogant and disdainful behavior while they were attending to Mr. Estelloso on November 29, 2015.

“Bannering himself as a well-connected member of the press, Mr. San Juan was the overbearing and abusive media personality stereotype that the public often heard of. Attached are the sworn narrations of 2 of the unfortunate OLLH nurses and staff who witnessed his tantrum.

“Considering that Mr. San Juan is a ‘writer’ and therefore your colleague in the mass media industry and journalism profession, it was probably convenient for you to forget that OLLH is considered as one of the leading private health institutions in the Philippines since its establishment in 1948. PhilHealth has awarded it with the Center of Excellence in Healthcare, and after almost 68 years of being known for its warm holistic healthcare tradition under the auspices of the missionary nuns of the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), it continues to be a historical landmark in Sta. Mesa, Manila under the professional management of East Manila Hospital Managers Corporation (EMHMC), a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Investment Corporation. This strategic partnership between SSpS and EMHMC allows OLLH to serve its patients with state-of-the-art hospital technology and facilities without losing its Christ-centered mission of providing affordable, excellent, integrated patient healthcare experience. Over the past 5 years, EMHMC-OLLH helped more than 15,000 patients and their families through its social service and PCSO-sponsored programs worth at least PhP65 million.”