5 hospital officials sacked for baby deaths in Tianjin

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-30 14:10

Five hospital officials were fired Sunday for their lack of action in containing infections in a northern Chinese hospital that led to the deaths of five newborns, the People’s Daily website reported on Monday.

The baby mortalities shone a spotlight on the hygiene conditions at the Jixian County Maternal and Child Care Service Center, the largest hospital of its kind in Jixian county of Tianjin. The county is more than 100 kilometers away from Beijing.

County authorities blamed the deaths on the hospital, firing its president Wang Xin, vice president Wang Lianjiang, head of the medical department Lu Qian, head of the maternity ward Jia Liying, and the charge nurse of the maternity ward Zhang Jianfeng.

Six newborns developed respiratory problems starting March 18, with five of them dying by 2 pm on March 22 and the sixth infant still undergoing treatment, a Tianjin health department spokesman said.

The deaths shocked the central and municipal governments, with the Ministry of Health (MOH), Tianjin municipal committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Tianjin municipal government all sending panels of experts there to investigate.

Officials said an initial investigation revealed that the deaths were caused by a hospital-acquired infection of the Enterobacter cloacae bacterium.

The investigation also found that the management of the rooms where the newborns were kept was in chaos, with wards in improper layout and workflow not in line with hygiene requirements.