A political ad of presidential aspirant and Sen. Grace Poe that is going the rounds of broadcast media mentions the Filipino’s capacity for being long suffering and patient. It then asks the viewer: “Kailan pa ba tayo magtitiis (How long must we suffer?).”
This question may have burdened Jessie Bariquit and her mother Juanita as they dealt with medical staff of the Minglanilla District Hospital who required them to buy P700 worth of medicine, dextrose and a needle for one-year-old Mary Jane, who was brought there severely dehydrated.
Their story wouldn’t have been noticed if not for their anguished post in social media that got the attention of news outlets.
Mary Jane died, a terrible tragedy because she didn’t have to. A Capitol investigation confirmed the error in “judgement”. The attending doctor didn’t have to send the mother and lola out to buy supplies past midnight because the dextrose, medicine and needle were on stock at the hospital.
And since it was an emergency, by law the treatment should have been immediate, no questions asked about bills.
The pharmacy was closed. The attending doctor and other staff didn’t know, but should have known, that there was a key available to the supply room.
The doctor, a job-order worker, got fired, rightly so to set an example for other less sensitive medical staff in Cebu province’s 16 district hospitals.
This surely isn’t an isolated incident. The fuss raised over Mary Jane’s death unearthed another family’s account of a boy who died in the same hospital the previous month, allegedly due to an erroneous diagnosis and prescription.
In looking into the quality of medical care, the Capitol also has to look at the level of commitment of physicians.
Why is it difficult to fill over 100 vacancies for full-time doctors in Cebu province when the pay has improved? The past system of outsourcing medical staff from a manpower agency was rejected as demeaning to health professionals.
So why do most doctors who accept work in the public sector still choose contractual arrangements instead of a permanent position? According to the Provincial Health Officer, the pay and tenure is good but many doctors prefer the freedom to accept other “rackets”, and report for duty when they are “available” on a job-order basis that favors more flexible time for them.
That mindset of maximizing income over quality service for patients in rural areas who are the most underserved sector is a separate tragedy. Baby Mary Jane did not require sophisticated equipment, veteran experience or a wonder drug.
The infant needed timely attention and hydration. She only needed a health professional who really cared.