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THE BELIZE TIMES
Babies’ death at KHMH handled by spin doctors Nobody is culpable as CEO blames media
Health Minister Pablo Marin Belize City, July 3, 2013 IT’s now seven weeks, three press (spin) conferences, a scathing report by the Pan American Health Organization on the death of thirteen babies at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) and nobody has been called to account. When news of the tragic deaths of the thirteen infants, which was caused by the deadly bacteria Enterobacter Cloacae, first broke on local television, the CEO at the state-owned KHMH called a hasty press conference. Even before the entire tragedy of incompetence was blown wide open, he almost admitted his culpability by saying that he only became aware of these deaths when he saw the report in the nightly
newscast. This statement he later retracted, blaming the media (according to him, they all got it wrong) for misquoting him.
When the news just broke, the KHMH CEO blamed one of the parents of one of the dead children who went to the media. He admitted that the media report “actually prompted the investigation because up until that point we were not aware that the situation was developing. It really became apparent when the babies died in significant number in a short period of time”. That is not what we overheard. Staff have been saying that he knew about this situation and did nothing. They said that he is aloft and takes no interest in the day to day operations of the hospital. This has been borne out by the PAHO report. Actually, the Chief Executive Officer
in the Ministry of Health, who believes he can spin the media dizzy, came to the rescue of his colleague by saying, “I think he felt he’s been misreported. But perhaps he actually misspoke”. The Ministry of Health had initially distanced itself from the deaths of the infants at the KHMH until it became a full blown national scandal. It mushroomed even more when the media recalled the earlier deaths of about five babies at the Northern Regional Stateowned hospital. This was a situation that was swiftly swept under the rug. But as the mushroom cloud grew, the Prime Minister and master spin doctor called another “spin conference” in an attempt to cover everybody’s behind. At that press conference, the Minister of Health sat muted. We subsequently asked about this, the Prime Minister obviously ignored the severity of the death of the thirteen infants, ignoring questions about the competence of his Minister of Health, describ-
07 JUL
2013 ing him as a political asset for winning village council elections. Under pressure, the Health Minister subsequently made a statement after a scathing PAHO report ripped into the mismanagement of the hospital for ignoring even rudimentary sanitation protocols. Forced to face this damning report head on, the KHMH and the Ministry of Health called a press conference to address the findings. Obviously embarrassed by the PAHO findings of mismanagement, the CEO of the KHMH “volunteered to become a member of the infection control committee at the hospital because of the importance that I give to this area of work”. This is an example of his officious idiosyncrasy. This man could not have effectively managed the hospital. Now he wants to screw around with what caused the babies’ deaths in the first place. He borrowed a snippet from the PAHO report, a classical document for its verbage, in trying to write the story of a disaster to make it read like a Stephen King novel. “This type of thing happens in hospitals all over the world”, said the KHMH’s CEO. What he did not say is that when they happen people are usually fired. He should volunteer to resign. The same applies for the Minister of Health, who had become suddenly animated after having a transmission problem with his brain. At the press conference to reveal and discuss the scathing PAHO report on the miserable and continuous life-threatening environment at the KHMH, the Minister of Health was still mentally far removed from the reality of the situation. Almost looking and sounding robotic he said: “I have an excellent team of professionals-both national and international-who have been investigating this outbreak for the last month. My absolute priority is to the safety of our children…I have felt it important to be a part of this team.” When, where and how? The Prime Minister said that at the time the scandal was brewing, his Health Minister was giving absolute priority to winning Village Council elections. We know that for sure he cannot multi-task. This is the second major scandal of the KHMH is less than two years. The first was the major drug racket. Now it is the death of thirteen infants, not including the five at the Northern Regional Hospital. We understand there is another in the making over the procurement of drugs by senior officials in the Ministry of Health. Before this one sees sunlight, the Minister of Health, should take his sombrero and ride off into the sunset.