JEDDAH – The closure of a leading Jeddah private hospital as part of a medical malpractice investigation has not stopped it from treating patients as usual. Hospital employees at Dr. Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital, which was closed down Sunday by officials from the Ministry of Health for 60 days in connection with allegations that it committed medical errors, were still working as usual on Monday, Saudi Gazette found. Admission sections were still treating in-patients normally. The heart section had 52 cases on Sunday, but this number had dropped to 26 by Monday. Some patients and their families insisted on remaining in the hospital as they were familiar with their doctors and also could not be transferred easily to other hospitals without their health being compromised. The pediatric section had almost 30 patients on Sunday, but this number dropped to 10 by Monday morning. The mental health section, which had over 30 patients before the closure, moved six patients to other hospitals while the others still do not know where they will be transferred to and whether or not they will be admitted to government hospitals. The hospital distributed a form to all in-patients asking them whether they wanted to stay in the hospital or not. A female administrator said many cases in the heart section preferred to remain in the hospital, although a nurse supervisor told Saudi Gazette that many patients began to leave after the hospital was closed. An official at the Ministry of Health said Sunday that the hospital is responsible for finding alternative health care providers for patients who still remain. Hisham Arif, a patient at the hospital, said he had been treated by the hospital for 10 years. He preferred to remain as he has just had an operation on his heart and is still being monitored by the hospital's medical team. He criticized the decision to close down the hospital, calling it “irrational” and said that it did not take into consideration the critical situation of patients who needed to remain. Asked if patients have been provided with alternative beds in other hospitals, he said: “We have to be realistic. There is a general lack of beds in Jeddah hospitals.When you go to any private hospital you will find it full, let alone public hospitals.” Another patient who has been treated at the Ministry of Health's expense for the past seven months at the hospital, Yousuf Mustafa, has also refused to leave. According to his family, he is old and his condition is critical, so he cannot be left without constant care from his doctors. An administrative worker at the hospital told Saudi Gazette that two patients involved in automobile accidents that the ER received Sunday have still not been transferred to other hospitals and that their condition is critical. The hospital has a notice posted on all its doors stating that patients can receive their medical records. However, an aged man told Saudi Gazette that the administrative team refused to give him his son's report. He added: “I came to get the medical report of my son and they told us that they are busy and cannot give us our reports. “How can such a hospital still be functioning?” Another patient who was due to be admitted to the hospital for a surgery said that he was shocked to find out not only about the closure and that his surgery was canceled, but that the hospital had not arranged for the prescheduled operations to be carried out at other hospitals. He added: “I have been waiting since early morning and have been asked to wait for the hospital management. I do not know if they have any excuse to provide me.” Khaled Mirghalani, Ministry of Health spokesman, told Saudi Gazette that there are other hospitals that have been closed by the ministry in Jeddah. A hospital was closed in Riyadh after it allegedly committed a medical error during a Caesarian operation on an expatriate woman. “The ministry will strike hard against any hospital that commits medical violations. Our goal is to stop such practices and protect the health of both locals and expatriates,” he added. Sami Badawood, Director of Jeddah Health Affairs, said his department is now counting the number of patients admitted to the hospital and will be working with other hospitals to transfer them. Majority of patients are being treated based on their insurance policies and an arrangement will be reached with their insurance companies so they can be transferred to other private hospitals. They will be transferred only to private hospitals not government hospitals, added Badawood.
