Was Standard Procedure Followed with Patient At NRH?  

A family from Yo Creek, Orange Walk is left with many unanswered questions after a loved one tragically passed away shortly after returning home from the hospital early Sunday morning. Rolando Garcia was either harmed or had an accident while riding his bicycle in the early hours of Sunday. He was found in a ditch, submerged in water, and rushed to the Northern Regional Hospital for treatment. Garcia had a gash on his head and received stitches, but his family was shocked to find him back home just a few hours after they were informed, he had been taken to the hospital. News Five’s Marion Ali brings us more on this puzzling and heartbreaking story.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Rolando Garcia left home on Saturday night, telling his family he was off to hang out with friends, just like he did every Saturday after work. Tragically, less than 24 hours later, the construction worker was found submerged in a ditch on the roadside. His family is left with more questions than answers about what happened after he left home and why he was discharged so quickly from the Northern Regional Hospital early Sunday morning. His nephew, Mark Cabrera, shared with News Five that they were shocked to find Garcia at home on Sunday morning, especially after receiving a call the night before saying he had been taken to the hospital.

 

Mark Cabrera, Nephew of Deceased

“He told me he was feeling dizzy. His breathing was very labored and he had trouble breathing. He had very shallow breathing, of course, and he had a lot of noise. You could hear wheezing exactly when he was breathing. So thereafter, we contacted my aunt as well to come look for him and we took him inside. I asked him what happened because I saw his head was bandaged up all over and it seemed like the gauze was here (pointing). So I asked him what happened to you? Did someone hit you? Did you fall? He mentioned he doesn’t remember. And, it was not even fifteen minutes after him being there when he started sort of convulsing, I guess, because he said he wanted to spit every time he’s spitting and spitting, I noticed he’s spitting blood.”

 

“The situation went from bad to worse in no time,” Cabrera recounted. His uncle’s condition deteriorated rapidly, and before they could rush him back to the hospital, he was already limp and motionless.

 

Mark Cabrera

“He mentioned that he wanted to sleep, that he was tired so we’re speaking, you know, let’s wait a little longer. My aunt is coming and so he was speaking to my mom when he started convulsing. When I looked at him, his eyes were sort of rolling over the place and same time my aunt reached right at the nick of time. We managed to put him in the back of the pickup. We rushed along the way. I was giving him CPR in the back of the pickup, but as soon as we pass, I say around Cuello’s, I saw that his eyes roll back and he became limp. Now that we reached the hospital, I told the doctors my uncle was just released maybe an hour, two hours ago, because we didn’t know exactly how long he was there. The doctors and nurses that came out, they looked at him, they were stunned. Right because they just had attended to him.”

 

Cabrera shared that when he questioned the medical team about why his uncle was released so quickly, they claimed Rosado had discharged himself voluntarily. However, Cabrera revealed that before his uncle passed away, he told him the exact opposite.

 

Mark Cabrera

“I was asking them what happened. I mean my uncle was just here you guys should have him for observation. They should have taken care of him. I didn’t know how big his cut was until I was giving him CPR and the bandage fell off. That’s when I saw it was like maybe like four fingers. I was speaking to the doctor, I guess the one in charge. I asked him what happened. I mean my uncle came and you guys didn’t provide proper and due care to my uncle, just stitched him. First they had mentioned that he had already released himself.”

 

Marion Ali

“Did he tell you before he died if he walked out voluntarily or did they release him?”

 

Mark Cabrera

“No, he told me that they had released him.”

 

Marion Ali

“He said they released him?”

 

Mark Cabrera

“Yeah, they released him, yes.”

 

Marion Ali

“And what are they saying to you now?”

 

Mark Cabrera

“They mentioned that he released himself, that he decided to go.”

 

Whether Garcia left the hospital on his own or was discharged is one of the many questions currently under investigation. Felix Rhaburn, the manager of the Northern Regional Hospital, is at the center of this inquiry.

 

Marion Ali

“Can you say at this point, whether he voluntarily walked out, released himself, or was released by the hospital?”

 

Felix Rhaburn, Manager, Northern Regional Hospital

“That is also a part of the investigation.”

 

Marion Ali

“Is there anything you can share with us preliminarily at this stage?”

 

Felix Rhaburn

“That it is under investigation.”

Marion Ali

“What about first observations that the medical team made when he came in?”

 

Felix Rhaburn

“That’s also a part of the investigation.”

 

Marion Ali

“Can you say when this information will be released?”

Felix Rhaburn

“It is very dependent on the schedule of the postmortem examination.”

 

Marion Ali

“For the scope of the investigation, who all will be interviewed?”

 

Felix Rhaburn

“For the investigation, we normally interview the people who had direct contact with the client, and we also go on the report of the postmortem examination.”

 

Marion Ali

“That would be standard procedure for an investigation?”

 

Felix Rhaburn

“For the nature of this case, yes.”

 

The Minister of Health has chosen to hold off on making any comments until the investigation is fully completed.

 

Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health & Wellness

“I will not respond to something that I don’t have proper information on. So I have, our team is investigating the matter to find out exactly what really transpired. Before I can comment, I prefer to wait until I get a full briefing from the regional manager and through Dr. Polanco, who was doing the research and investigation on that issue.”

 

Marion Ali for News Five.