2023-07-30 11:11:54
Many hospitals have found ways out of the crisis, at least to ensure their continuity, by charging hospital and medical fees in cash and dollars directly from patients. Hence, it is unforgivable for a hospital that receives inflated or dollarized bills, any negligence in treating a patient or disregard for his life.
Hospitals belonging to associations that describe themselves as “charitable” are not excluded, such as the Makassed Islamic Charitable Hospital. Although it has nothing to do with charitable work, the complaints of patients who were forced to receive their treatment there, due to their circumstances, are sufficient to create a gloomy scene about the hospital’s management, care, medicine, and services.
The truth about Makassed Hospital is only told by its patients, who live with the manipulation of their lives and health under the pretext of financial distress. And there is no truer expression from a kidney patient than to say, “Shut down this human slaughterhouse.”
a human slaughterhouse?
A few days ago, Al-Makassed Charitable Hospital published a statement defending its reputation, which was criticized by a large number of patients and followers of the hospital’s situation on social media. In its statement, the hospital administration denounced its accusation of converting the dialysis department into a special department for first-degree patients, and of discriminating between patients. The author of the statement insisted that the hospital treats all patients equally, and admitted in one way or another that there was a problem with securing medical supplies. Then he concluded his statement by praying that God would protect the purposes, while it was not clear that he would protect them from whom.
The statement suggests that the hospital administration is not aware of what is happening inside the patients’ rooms and between their corridors. And this is a disaster. As for the biggest disaster, it lies in the fact that the administration is aware of the deplorable condition of its patients, and hides that fact with flattering statements.
There are many examples of disregard for the lives of patients in Makassed Hospital. A quick tour of a few patients reveals many cases that the hospital sector in Lebanon did not witness, even in neglected government hospitals. Among the many cases, a kidney patient whose condition worsened during a dialysis session in the hospital, so the administration decided to admit him. When a bed was not available, he was admitted to the emergency room to control his blood pressure, pending a room. Until then, the patient’s family had to pay emergency and admission costs.
From here begins the story of this patient. However, it has not ended yet, and his family has not been able to transfer him to another hospital due to his bad condition. The patient was taken from the emergency room to the hospital. Surprisingly, the room temperature was very high, and there was no pillow on the bed. When the patient’s daughter asked the floor information desk, the answer was, “This is the situation. No air conditioning, no pillows, no water, no tissues. You can provide what the patient needs yourself.” Even a pill is held by the nurse in her hand, without a glass of water. Note that the drug is purchased by the patient from outside the hospital.
A first shock that can be absorbed by the patient’s family, fearing for his health. But what cannot be bypassed, according to what the patient’s daughter says, is the absence of air conditioning and contentment with a fan that was brought from the house. The patient suffers from a problem in the lungs in addition to his health condition related to the kidneys, and it is difficult for him to breathe in light of the high temperatures and humidity. The daughter says: “We consulted the administration, especially since my father underwent several surgeries, but the answer was always: This is the case.”
The amount of filth in the rooms and corridors is frightening and the neglect is great, says the daughter. Even the nurses are all fresh graduates with no experience, they don’t have the slightest sense of responsibility in dealing with patients. Here, one of the nurses says in an interview with Al-Modon: Poor treatment of patients may not be justified, but how can a nurse deal with unhealthy working conditions and high heat and humidity, in addition to a salary that does not exceed $200 and 9 million pounds is not sufficient for transportation allowances? .
Dangerous level of negligence
The patient’s daughter complains of the doctors’ poor attention. It is a dangerous level of neglect. She says that on Thursday it turned out that her father had water in his lungs. The doctor decided to remove it with a needle. However, the attending physician refused to come to the hospital before Monday, that is, three days after the diagnosis. Which is what actually happened. But the doctor’s delay exacerbated the father’s condition, and during the process of withdrawing water from the lungs, it became clear that he had been exposed to an acute infection. The doctor was forced to stop the withdrawal and transfer it to surgery, which also did not end safely, but also faced obstacles. Each of these stages has frustrating details for the patient’s family, starting with the doctor’s admission of being late in completing the matter, and not ending with obliging the patient’s family to purchase all the requirements for the operation, including tubes and so on.
You press the nurses’ help button, but there is no answer, says the patient’s daughter. In one case it was so bad that the patient was bleeding, and none of the nurses cared. Here the daughter asks: Faced with such a reality, how can we trust the medicines that are provided in the hospital?
A valid question. The first scene that we encountered at the entrance to the hospital is one of the workers in the reception department smoking a cigarette without any embarrassment. In addition, the medicines are placed in the hospital (attached photo) in small refrigerators, such as those for trips, placed within sight of the patients’ eyes, and perhaps within their reach, as evidenced by the fact that the attached photo was taken by one of the patients whom Al-Modon spoke to.
Another patient at Makassed Hospital underwent surgery on the intestines. She suffered greatly in the hospital, and her children had to bring in fans from the house to reduce the temperature in the room to avoid wound infection. But this did not work, as the wound became infected and she stayed in the hospital for a long time, in addition to her suffering, like other patients, from the absence of any care, services, or attention. The patient’s daughter says, “The smell of sweat is disgusting in the hospital. There are no cleaning materials and no attention to hygiene.”
Management is absent or in hiding?
After the “superficial” statement circulated by Al-Makassed Hospital, Al-Modon tried to communicate with the hospital administration and the association’s administration for days… to no avail. Even the assistant director of the hospital, Jumana Najjar, decided – on behalf of the director – that she did not have time to answer our questions, “she is always busy outside the office.” She did not even show any willingness to contact us again, in response to questions about the validity of the complaints against the hospital.
From here, the director of the hospital must be asked about her destination. If a member of her family is harmed, will she admit him to Makassed Hospital? Is her office in the administration cooled, or did she bring in a fan from her house?
After speaking with one of the former officials in the hospital, who regretted the state of affairs due to poor management, the absence of follow-up, and the incompetence of the people in charge of it, it is no longer excluded that the current administration is absent or in hiding.
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