DoH to probe St. Luke’s over patient transfer

THE Department of Health (DoH) will look into the case of a family whose mother was pulled out from a hospital without the knowledge of her children and transferred to a nursing care home, where she died six days later.

In a story published by TheManila Times on Saturday, Wilfredo Talag accused St. Luke’s Medical Center Bonifacio Global City (BGC) of transferring their mother, Leticia Talag, to a facility caring for the aged in San Pablo City, Laguna without informing him or other members of the family.

Talag and his siblings, Butch Talag and Ruby Talag-Barcelo, said they told St. Luke’s chief medical officer, Dr. Benjamin Campomanes, that they planned on discharging their mother from the hospital on or before the end of August.

They were shocked to learn that the hospital had discharged the patient on August 19 and transferred her to the Bahay Pag-Ibig Nazareth, where she died on August 26.

In a press briefing. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the department was waiting for the formal reply from St. Luke’s before launching an investigation.

She added that some government agencies were already looking into the Talags’ case.

She said under Republic Act 8344, all hospitals must have a “uniform discharge and transfer slip” and that the patient should consent to the discharge.

If the patient was not capable of giving consent, the next of kin must provide it, Vergeire said.

Broadcast journalist Ben Tulfo, who was accused by the Talag siblings of assisting the hospital in transferring their mother, lashed out at them for talking to The ManilaTimes, but did not show up at an all-points bulletin raised by him.

“Lu map its ai sang dy ar yoi ton gm a gk aka pat id ... ang St. Luke’s BGC at ‘ Bitag’... bayaran n’yo muna ang utang n’yo (The siblings approached a newspaper and threatened to file cases against St. Luke’s BGC and ‘ Bitag’... Pay your debts first)!” Tulfo said in his morning program on Monday.

He also slammed Ruby’s assertion that it was unfair for Tulfo to insinuate that they abandoned their mother.

“St. Luke’s na, hinanap na kayo, tumulong naang city of Makati... para lang ma ga wanng para an ... hinanap nga kayo, hindi na man kayo ma-locate( St. Luke’s tried to locate you, and the city of Makati also helped, but you were not reachable),” Tulfo said.

He added that he was ready to face any charges that the Talags would file, but advised them to first ask St. Luke’s what they did to their mother before they focus on him.

The Times reached out to St. Luke’s, but its public relations consultant said their legal team was still preparing a response to the Talags’ accusations.