Last night, you heard the CEO of the KHMH say that he found out about the rash of newborn deaths in the Pediatric Intensive care Unit from watching the news. And that's why an internal investigation is underway to find out what went wrong that could have caused so many successive deaths without a decisive response. But, according to the former CEO, his successor's explanation just won't cut it. Dr. Alvaro Rosado says that the shutdown of the unit came way too late, and to find out what went wrong, the hospital needs much more than just an internal investigation.
Dr. Alvaro Rosado - Former CEO, KHMH
"Well first of all I must state that the media had approached me before asking me for comments and I had refused because I said it was unfair to the administration for me to comment before they did their investigation. Now that the investigation has started although with all fairness to the Chairlady she said that it would continue. I get the impression that this is the beginning of the end and that this is almost the begin of the end of the investigation and it bothers me because I don't think that the answers and the information that was given was really information that is pertinent. I think the first thing that needs to be answered is - How did the bug get into that Neonatal unit? NICU is supposed to be most secure, sterile area of the hospital. It's cleaned twice a day, should be cleaned, swabbed, they take cultures regularly so how did that germ/bug get into the hospital. It can be traced there is no big secret about how these things happen. The second and the most disturbing to me is to hear the CEO and the Chairlady say that they were not aware of the situation until they heard it on the media. It's unbelievable that you have the bosses at a hospital not aware of what is happening in there for three weeks.
In 2004, specifically, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was the pride and joy of KHMH - that was our show case, when anybody came from abroad that's where we went. In the region it was considered the best Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, people marveled at how the doctors and nurses there were able to keep 90% of Neonates alive - that's a very high percentage. It's not a question iof is there the medical knowledge or expertise - it's not a question if there is a nursing expertise, the nursing staff and medical staff of KHMH are the highest trained medical personnel in this country. There's no shortage of medical knowledge and expertise - there was a breakdown somewhere and I think what needs to be done is for an investigation to be carried out to find out how it happened and why it happened so it doesn't happen again."
Rosado says that the hospital should not focus on who is to blame, but on what went wrong because the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit will need to be reactivated. He also believes that energy expended on damage control due to the legal issues which may arise is wasted at this critical time.
We should note that the babies who were in the unit when it was shut down have been relocated to what is described as a safe place within the hospital.
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