JEDDAH: Dr. Erfan & Bagedo Hospital has started transferring patients to other hospitals today after it was served a temporary closure order from the Ministry of Health, employees of the premier medical institution in Jeddah said today.
Hospital employees, who asked not to be named as they were not authorized to speak for management, told Arab News that the hospital has stopped admitting new patients and the transfer of 280 inpatients was going on. Forty-five of the inpatients are under intensive care and and 39 under dialysis.
The hospital has around 3,000 employees, with Saudis accounting for more than half the number. The rest of the hospital staff are expatriates, notably Egyptians, Indians and Filipinos.
Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah had earlier ordered the hospital closed for two months following the death of Salah Al-Deen, an eight-year-old son of a prominent businessman, Sheikh Yusuf Jameel, due to a fatal medical error during a surgery.
A Ministry of Health official has said the hospital will remain closed for two months "until the hospital regularizes its medical and technical functions in accordance with set medical standards."
The recommentation was made by a medical committee composed of consultants in intensive care, surgeons and anesthetesiologists, which studied the case of the deceased child upon receipt of the complaint made by the aggrieved parents.
During its inquiry, the committee, listenined to the testimony of doctors, paramedics and technicians involved in the case.
As found by the committee, the boy was taken to the hospital on Thursday for a checkup after he developed symptoms of swollen lymphatic glands, following a two-week-long bout of fever. The child's mother gave her consent to doctors to perform the necessary surgery after she was reassured that it was a simple operation that would only last for 30 minutes.
However, the doctors reportedly operated upon the boy in an X-ray lab that was not equipped for surgical operations. In the course of anesthesia procedure, the boy was administered nitrogen instead of oxygen. By the time surgeons had discovered the mistake, the circulatory system had been completely damaged. The situation was further exacerbated because the X-ray room was not equipped for emergency cardiac resuscitation.
In announcing the suspension of the hospital's operation, the MOH earlier noted previous complaints of irregularities practiced in the hospital have rendered it unsafe for patients. An official from the MOH said the committee had noted repeated violations by the hospital since 2008.
In its recommendation, the committee said remedial measures should satisfy the health authorities to ensure that the hospital is safe and secure for treating patients and fit for re-opening.
