Man blames Phuket hospital for mother’s death

PHUKET: A complaint was filed today against the Phuket Provincial Administrative Organization (OrBorJor) Hospital for “unethical practices” leading to the death of his mother.

Narongphon Suwanmosee, 44, claims that hospital administrators allegedly refused to allow his mother to be transferred to Vachira Phuket Hospital for treatment for the sake of an outstanding 100,000 baht medical bill.

Mr Narongphon filed the complaint to Prapan Kanprasang, head of the Damrongtham Center (Ombusdman’s Office) today.

There to receive the complaint in person was Manop Leelasuthanon, the OrBorJor‘s Chief Administrative Officer (Palad).

“My mother was admitted to the hospital for diabetic treatment. I spent at least 300,000 baht on treatment while she was in the hospital,” said Mr Narongphon.

His mother, Pa Khongjean, was 74 years old and admitted to the hospital on November 24, he said,

“On December 29, the hospital informed me that I had to pay an additional 100,000 baht as the final payment before they could transfer my mother to Vachira.

“They said they didn’t have the proper equipment to treat her. She was in the intensive-care unit [ICU] at the time,” he said.

Mr Narongphon’s request to pay 50,000 up front and the rest later, in order to expedite his mother’s transfer, was declined, he told the Phuket Gazette.

“They said that it was standard procedure for the hospital. If I can’t make the entire payment, then they can’t let my mother leave the hospital,” he added.

Mr Narongphon went on to explain that once the decision was made to make the transfer to Vachira, his mother was taken off the respirator.

However it took him six or seven hours before he was able to get all the money to pay the bill, and his mother was without a respirator during that time, he alleged.

“After I paid the bill, they transferred my mother to the emergency room of Vachira instead of the ICU. My mother spent one night in the emergency room before she was admitted to the ICU. I don’t understand why they didn’t send her straight to the ICU,” he said.

“I filed this complaint because I want people to be aware of my mother’s story. I will sue the OrBorJor Hospital for the damages. My mother passed away on January 1,” he added.

Mr Manop promised to investigate the incident.

The Gazette attempted to contact Dr Jak Sammana, the director of the OrBorJor Hospital, but he was unavailable for comment.

— Warisa Temram