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A large crowd was expected but only 15 persons showed up to march through the streets of Orange Walk Town to protest the services at the Northern Regional Hospital. For one of the protestors it wasn't what she expected.

Andrea Polanco
"Ms. Santana why did you decide to come out here with the people of the north in this protest this morning?"

Marnie Santana
"I came out with solidarity with the people that have been affected and mostly poor people. As you know the poor is invisible, they don't have a voice. But I am a bit disappointed because I am here in solidarity, but the people that have been affected most of them are not here, I think we only have about 3 families that have been affected that are out here and while I was listening to the morning show they had about 200 calls over the week. Different calls talking about different things that had happen. So I say that I would come out to stand with people, to support people because this is the only way we can have meaningful change. And for me it is disappointing because the only we would have real meaning is when everybody stand up together."

While the group was very small, among them were two families who said they suffered fur to hospital negligence:

Yojani Montejo, protestor
"I was the one who lost the baby last 2 weeks. I think this is done to show the ministry of health that we are not satisfy with the work the hospital is doing, so I think this is the only way we can show that we are not satisfy with the work."

Andrea Polanco
"Why are you guys out here today?"

Kevin & Grace Allen, protestors
"We are out here because we are asking support from the hospital to try and give us more attention for our baby because last night our baby got stiff on us and we never had anybody to support us. So we come today, the second time to get another test from the physician. The last time we came here the physician check the baby and told us that everything is alright. But then the baby got blue on us. So now we ask the nurse if it is serious if the baby is alright, she says that she does not know. When you come to the hospital; if you are the first that reach this hospital, they will treat like the fifteenth person to get attention; when you are the first one that reaches the hospital early in the morning. After a while they will give us attention, I don't think that that is right. I think that first come should be first serve."

What's in a number....you might ask. Well Santiago Baeza told Seven News that what should've been a large crowd ventilating the concerns and dissatisfaction of the public dwindled to the 15 people in the street.

Santiago Baeza, protestor
"They are out here by our own; we are out here by our big hearts because we want to say no to the doctors; no to the nurses; no to medicines; no to services; no to the bad courtesy that we are getting at the hospital. We want these things to stop. We want when the people come to the Orange Walk hospital which is the northern regional hospital responsible for all the north to have their attention that they are looking for. That is why we are out here this morning."

Andrea Polanco
"What's the next step for these families?"

Santiago Baeza, protestor
"The next step I believe that we want to have talks with the administration. We want to have talks with the chief of staff. We want to have talks with the matron of the hospital to let them know and I know that they know what going on out here and I just pray that we have better service coming from their part to the public and if it doesn't happen then we take the streets again."

Of course the unintended consequence of this failed protest is that when only 15 people gather to protest against a hospital that sees thousands of patients monthly, it has the effect of telling the hospital that it can't be doing too bad a job - which is clearly not the message that this group had hoped to send.

The protestors said they are awaiting a response to formal complaints submitted to the administration …