Our Sad Hospital Experience in Manila

 

July 06, 2024. Saturday

The negotiations with the hospital admin on the promissory note was a disaster last July 04 (for background, see the very first post of this blog). They were not willing to help us pay them and they stubbornly stuck with the date in the promissory which is July 08, Monday, giving us a mere three days to work it out (except Saturday and Sunday) to look for funds. Imagine looking for 320K pesos in 3 days. They were so unreasonable. 

Photo by Natanael Melchor on Unsplash.

We understand that it's already a signed promissory, but out of too much stress and depression (my son and his wife stayed in the hospital for some 2 weeks and the compounded daily rates were giving us a hell of a stress and often depression and frustration). I know my son was dead wrong to take his wife to that costly hospital without enough money, but their obstetrician is from that hospital and my son thought it dangerous to change hospital abruptly, and a hospital where their doctor is not connected with. He felt that he had no choice. He was wrong but everyone who does a mistake deserves help, guidance and another chance. The hospital should have that consideration.

Worse, is, they did not fully explain to us the gravity of the conditions in their promissory and due to our emotions and exhaustion, we just signed the promissory because we wanted my son and family (especially the baby) out there pronto. We didn't want the baby exposed to infections there. And we were bothered by the hospital bill that kept adding up each day. I really believe they should have explained it to us before we were made to sign it. We're not lawyers to be able to understand the way the promissory is written with law jargons, much less if we were so exhausted and our minds were really tired. 

We just signed it to go home and rest. Looks like the hospital took advantage of all that to make the promissory trap effective. 

After we have rested and napped, we checked the promissory and still vaguely understood it. So I sought the help of a lawyer friend who interpreted to us the content. In his own words, the promissory was, "mabagsik at strikto," and he even said that it was so cruel that "kukunin nila lahat sa inyo, pati lapida and panty" (they're going to get even your tombstone and underwear panty). The promissory was so inhuman. It scared us. Why the scare? We were willing to pay them.

And when we went back to the hospital for a reconsideration of the terms, they would not help us any. Is that service? Service would have listened to us--because we were willing to pay but not in their onerous terms--and should have re-arranged a reasonable promissory. I really saw them as crooks. It's a super rich hospital where the rich and famous go, and here we were, next to being poor, willing to pay but being pressed to suffer by a rich hospital. There's absolutely no show of care or concern.

Imagine making the poor pay 320K pesos just after 3 days? The very reason we settled for a promissory was because we had no money that big. We are willing to pay, but with reasonable payment terms--like monthly payments of Php 5k or Php 7K. I know it's too small but that's what we can afford now, and the point is we're willing to pay. 

The deadline is on July 08 and I don't know what would become of this. I know GOD will help us, I just don't know how the miracle would turn out. I just know his help comes always on time. May HE spare us the horror of a litigation and the shame. We've been contacting friends who can help. Our families have already helped a lot--and I mean a lot--and have nothing to help us with now. And I understand them. I just hope we come up with the amount. If not, I hope GOD will rescue us from litigation. If the litigation progresses, I hope God will intervene so we can get a fair and reasonable payment arrangement.

Hospitals Should Help Poor Patients Pay

I know that the hospital--a medical center known to be expensive--shouldn't have been my son's choice because they couldn't afford it. He and his wife should've shopped for a really affordable one which is plenty around. But he stuck with his idea against our advice and thought he could pull it through. He's sometimes that adventurous. But he learned his lesson, and he should be helped. His reason was that, with the complications of his wife's pregnancy, taking her to a public hospital may endanger everything, even cost her life and/or the baby's. 

We explained to him that a lot of public hospitals are good with quality doctors and facilities. A lot of people were born in public hospitals and didn't have any problem. I and my wife were born at PGH. If you're going to die, you will, regardless of hospital you're taken to. But with God and prayers, the childbirth procedure will be safe. He listened but he still stuck to his decision. 

These things happen to some patients and the hospital should be caring enough to consider their situations. It should be part of their service to patients---hospitals should be service-oriented first before they are a business. And it's for a win-win solution. The patient is able to pay and they get paid eventually. No one is perfect, especially the youth like my son who's just 28 and still inexperienced about a lot of facts of life. They make mistakes--a lot of them--and they should be helped, not punished. Punishment does nothing but punish. Punishment never teaches offenders effectively in the way that people become better and really change.

If they are helped with a little bit of disciplining and stern warning, they learn. Yes, they may do it again because of their silly adventurism, but hospitals may keep records of the incidents and once a person is proved to do the same stupid mistake, then they should be given a stern lesson.