Two Xi'an hospitals closed for 3 months due to delayed treatment
Two hospitals in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, have been ordered to suspend operations for three months for their delayed treatment of critically ill patients, the city's health commission said on Thursday.
On January 1, an eight-month pregnant woman miscarried after she was denied entry to Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital because her nucleic acid test result had expired. Xi'an health commission director Liu Shunzhi apologized on January 6 for the distressing incident.
In a separate event, a woman alleged that her father suffered from angina pectoris on January 2 and was sent to Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital but was declined treatment. He passed away in the early hours of January 3, according to Metropolitan Express.
The two hospitals "failed to perform their duties of saving lives and rescuing the wounded," the health commission statement said.
"This led to delays in the rescue, diagnosis and treatment of critically ill patients, arousing widespread public concern and causing a bad social impact."
The two hospitals were given warnings, and ordered to suspend operations for rectification for three months.
Xi'an Gaoxin Hospital was asked to suspend the general manager, remove the directors of the outpatient and obstetrics departments, and the deputy director of the medical department.
Xi'an International Medical Center Hospital was ordered to remove the legal representative and chairman from their positions and suspend a vice president of the hospital and the head nurse of the outpatient department.
The health commission has issued a work plan to safeguard normal medical treatment in Gaoxin District during the two hospitals' suspension.
The number of new local cases has begun to decline in the terracotta warrior city in recent days, with only six reported on Wednesday, indicating an upturn in the current pandemic situation.
The city kicked off a new round of mass testing in key areas at 9am on Wednesday to further curb the spread of the virus.
