Robert Reid Hospital Deaths: 11 Children Die Over The Weekend In Dominican Health Center

Last weekend, 11 kids died in the Robert Reid Cabral Children’s Hospital, the largest public children’s hospital in the Dominican Republic. Most of the kids were not even a year old, and the hospital personnel attribute the tragic events to a breakdown of the central oxygen system, plus two elevators that were out of service, delaying the installation of oxygen tanks. The children had been admitted into the intensive care and pediatric units and seven of them were diagnosed with severe infections and other complications. Another child had a heart condition.

Rosa Nieves Paulino, the hospital director, admitted there was a failure in the ICU’s oxygen system, but said that at no time was there a lack of oxygen for the children, because the doctors on duty used manual ventilators and tried several resuscitation attempts. She stressed that the children’s health situation was serious beforehand, and that the oxygen mishap "had nothing to do with the deaths," which reached eleven in just three days. She also went on to note that the referrals and hospitalizations had intensified over the last three days.

The devastating deaths happened between Friday, October 3 and Sunday, October 5, when two of the babies were reported dead on Friday, four died on Saturday and five on Sunday. There were three newborns, five babies of less than a year and the others were older than a year. According to Diario Libre, the situation attracted the attention of doctors at the hospital, who said that their highest number of deaths that they had seen was seven, and in moments of crisis.

Meanwhile, the president of the Dominican Medical College (CMD), Doctor Pedro Sing, said that the deaths are the result of the "overwhelming" number of patients that are referred to the hospital from private clinics and hospitals around the country. During a meeting with the Permanent Commission on Health of the Chamber of Deputies, he emphasized that from January until now, the range of deaths of children at the Robert Reid Hospital on Saturdays and Sundays varies between seven and 12.

"The problem is that for more than 20 years they have not inserted the correct budget for all of the programs in the health system. The Robert Reid Cabral would not be so overflowing with patients if we could have primary attention that worked," he explained. A proper investigation has been opened in order to determine the real cause of the deaths of 11 children at that hospital. So far the hospital staff and medical personnel who worked last weekend has been interrogated, as well as Guillermo Pérez, the president of the Lindegas Company, which supplies oxygen to the health center.

UNICEF representative in the Dominican Republic, María Jesús Conde Zabala, said that it is important that all parties involved in the deaths of the 11 children participate in the investigation. She understands that what is “reasonable” is that the relatives of the deceased infants are represented on the commission investigating the facts through a lawyer or expert.