Fatima Muhammad and Abdurahman Al-Ali
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH – Dr. Erfan & Bagedo General Hospital reopened Saturday after a two-month closure ordered by the Ministry of Health following a medical error which resulted in the death of a child last November.
Dr. Muhammad Erfan, Chairman of the Board and CEO of the hospital, hinted at key changes at top management and administrative structure, saying that he is handing over his responsibilities as CEO to another Saudi.
“With hard work we will regain trust,” he said.
During a visit to the hospital emergency section, Saudi Gazette found that it was still undergoing major transformation with workers engaged in restoration work. The hospital can now use only six operation rooms out of 12 due to lack of staff. The ministry advised the hospital to have more specialized staff to be able to operate the remaining rooms. Only 50% of the ER is in operation now.
Dr. Erfan told Saudi Gazette that the hospital will implement the directive of Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah to restructure the top management and middle administration. The ministry has ordered the hospital to do prompt checks on gas pipes and other safety measures, in addition to changes in management.
“We will finalize changes in management and administrative structure in the coming months. We are in search of highly skilled, talented and efficient people to take over key managerial positions effective April 1,” he said.
Referring to the recommendations made by the Health Affairs Directorate, he said that the hospital was blamed for 60 percent errors for using an old oxygen hose while giving anesthesia without carrying out the necessary tests before the surgery.
“For ensuring safety of patients, the specialist health committee has ordered to refurbish all gas pipes besides carrying out maintenance works of all other equipment, as well as electricity, air-conditioning and sewage systems. We have completed testing of every gas pipe and are expected to furnish all rooms by Wednesday,” he said, noting that the hospital had won several local and international awards for the quality of service over the last 30 years.
Dr. Erfan said that no insurance company had canceled contracts with the hospital. He, however, refused to estimate their losses during the closure period. The hospital’s error was not medical but technical, he noted.
“Medical malpractices happen in all hospitals even in developing and developed countries. We work our best to reduce them to zero but fate is unavoidable,” he said, adding that about 160 medical errors had been reported in the Kingdom last year, of which 40 were in Jeddah.
Dr. Erfan said that the hospital had not sacked any employee. All employees are in our sponsorship. “No expatriate staff decided to quit jobs but some Saudis had quit after they found other jobs. We paid full salaries to those with salaries below SR10,000. Those with salaries above that were given 50 to 70 percent and the remaining amounts would be disbursed when the hospital starts full operations.”
The hospital will construct a new medical tower that will start functioning in 2014 with different clinics to reduce the pressure on the present hospital.
The hospital has 40,000 customers and the average number of patients who visit the hospital is 2,000 per day, said Dr. Erfan, adding that they will need one month to put things back to normal.
The ministry had shut down the hospital on Nov. 18 for a period of two months following the death of Salah Al-Deen, eight-year-old son of prominent businessman Sheikh Yusuf Jameel, due to a medical error during surgery. One month ago, the Makkah Court of Appeals had asked the Jeddah Administrative Court to review its earlier verdict that endorsed the ministry’s decision to shut down the hospital.
