Gov. Gwen to visit mother of baby who died in Camotes District Hospital

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will be meeting today, January 7, 2020,  the mother of a three-week-old boy who died in the district hospital of Camotes. 

The child, identified as Kai Gavin Yangson, reportedly died of pneumonia last January 2, 2020 while confined at the hospital.

A certain Ainsley Iyanna Consoles, a relative of Yangson, alleged through a post on Facebook last January 3, 2020, that the doctors in the hospital neglected the baby when they brought him there.

“Sa dihang ang doctor naglingkod ug nagsud-ong ra sa baby nga tabangunon naglisodog ginhawa. NIkuha sa ballpen ug sa referral kay i-refer na lang kuno sa Vicente Sotto [Memorial Medical Center],” Consoles wrote.

(The doctor just sat and watched the baby who was struggling to breathe. He just took his pen and referral slip because he wanted the case to be referred to Vicente Sotto [Memorial Medical Center].)

Consoles claimed that the doctor did not even bother to touch the baby to take his pulse while in the hospital.

She asked the public to help them find justice for the death of Yangson.

Dr. Christina Gianggo, head of the Provincial Health Office (PHO), said she had already spoken with the doctor and asked for a report regarding the incident.

The PHO didn’t give the name of the doctor.

Gianggo said the doctor explained that the child had cough for three days before he was brought to the Municipal Health Officer of Poro on the afternoon of January 1, 2020. 

At 9 p.m. on New Year’s Day, the child was already brought to the district hospital but Gianggo said the doctor reasoned that the child was already in bad condition when he reached the hospital.

The child was supposed to be brought to VSMMC on the morning of January 2, 2020 via the 5:30 a.m. boat trip but Yangson did not make it after he passed away at around 3 a.m. that day.

Gianggo said the doctor admitted that he might have had lapses in explaining the situation to the child’s mother and relatives. However, Gianggo said the doctor denied the allegations of neglect on their part.

Governor Garcia said the child’s relative’s claims and the denial of the doctors prompted her to want to hear both sides of the story.

Garcia said she will meet with the child’s mother when she visits Tudela town in Camotes on Tuesday.

“If we will conduct our own investigation, amongst those involved are the doctors and other hospital personnel. I also want to hear their side so I could come up with my own evaluation of what really happened,” Garcia said. /bmjo