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SOURCE: STRABROEK NEWS- A senior doctor has been fired and another two suspended for failing to adhere to required medical protocols contributing to the death of a baby at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH).
While a release from the hospital did not name the doctors in relation to the death of Mayhelm Gonzalez’s baby, Stabroek News has been reliably informed Dr Geremias Rangel has been fired and Dr Latoya Shury and Dr Lucio Pedro suspended for 28 days each.
The hospital announced yesterday by way of a press statement that it had completed its internal investigation into the stillbirth that occurred during Gonzalez’ full-term pregnancy.
The incident led to a detailed review by GPH’s management, which confirmed the findings and the corrective actions taken.
The investigation, according to the press release, was conducted by an independent review panel and concluded that the doctors involved in the case failed to adhere to required medical protocols, ultimately contributing to the unfortunate death of the baby.
The statement outlined the hospital’s steps to address the situation, which included the termination of a senior doctor responsible for overseeing the shift during the incident.
In addition, two other doctors with senior oversight were suspended for 28 days for their roles in the breach of protocol.
We have been doing a lot—we will engage our staff in sensitization and education, so they can perform to the level of our expectations,” the hospital’s CEO Robbie Rambarran said after the press release was issued.
Rambarran also shared statistics of stillbirths, revealing that from 2016 to 2024 GPH has seen a decline of 50 stillbirths due to the hospital’s interventions.
The investigation’s results were shared with Gonzalez and her family yesterday morning, and they were reportedly satisfied with the measures taken by the hospital.
In a statement to this newspaper Gonzalez expressed a bittersweet sense of relief. “You know, my friend, that this will not bring back my daughter.
But I feel happy that despite being Venezuelan, there was justice,” she said. “I raised my voice, and it was heard.
Those responsible will get what they deserve.
I feel proud to know that despite not being Guyanese, I got justice for everything I experienced.
And I am grateful to you, the journalists, that if you hadn’t responded to my call, no one would have known this story.
Thank you for listening to me, and for your great work as journalists. I will be eternally grateful. May God bless you.”
The heartbroken mother had accused medical staff at the GPH of negligence and mistreatment during labour, which she believed ultimately led to the death of her baby on January 18, 2025.
Gonzalez, 32, had said that three doctors and two nurses failed to act promptly and provide necessary care during her labour.
Speaking through tears and with visible pain, Gonzalez and her family shared the devastating details of the ordeal that ended with the death of her baby daughter.
The mother of one said she had arrived at the hospital around 11:00 am, requesting a caesarean-section due to concerns about her baby’s size.
However, despite her repeated pleas for assistance, it wasn’t until 6:00 pm that the doctors agreed to perform the surgery.
She said she was denied pain relief and proper care throughout the day, while nurses and doctors ignored her cries for help.
When I was on the bed, I had two nurses there but they didn’t help me with anything. You know the pain is very much and the nurses tell me in Spanish, ‘Cállate’—‘be quiet,’” she recalled.
“I asked why you tell me quiet? You don’t see the pain is very hard for me? They shout, ‘I tell you quiet! Quiet!’ and when I said ‘help me move,’ they said ‘No! You alone! You alone!
“It was very hard.
The nurse said in English, ‘The Spanish girl not pushing, the Spanish girl don’t want to push, she wasting time. The nurse told everybody how the Spanish girl don’t wanna push.
But how could she say that? I push nothing happen.”
As the hours passed, Gonzalez said her condition worsened, but no one seemed to take her pleas seriously. “My baby is 4545 g [10 pounds]. Baby is very big. I push, I push, I push, and the baby not coming out,” she said, her voice breaking.
“At 5:30, three doctors came in and they spoke in Spanish, tell me to push, push, push and ask to see the last ultrasound. I tell the doctor that is from two weeks before, baby bigger now.
I cannot push. The baby not coming,” Gonzalez had explained.
“At 6:00, the doctor came out of the hospital, and me and my mother saw the doctor and took a picture. I was alone upstairs, the nurses didn’t help me,” she added.
Gonzalez’s mother said, “I told the doctor when he come outside with him friend to talk at 5:30 that Mayhelm doesn’t need to push, she needs surgery because this baby is very big.
The doctor said, ‘No, these are the rules of the hospital; she has to push for a time.’”
It wasn’t until 6:30 pm that Gonzalez was finally taken to surgery.
“I had to get up again and go sit in a chair,” she said, adding that once again, she was denied help by the nurses.
“I asked the nurse to help me, and they told me again, ‘No, no’, I do it myself.”
After undergoing surgery, Gonzalez said, “I heard the doctor say my baby was born at 7:00 pm, but I didn’t hear my baby cry, and nobody told me I could see my baby.”
It wasn’t until three hours later, at 10:00 pm, that she was informed that her baby had died.
“I kept asking the nurses what happened, and they kept saying I needed to wait for the doctor. Nobody told me anything,” Gonzalez recalled.
“But I tell my mom and my husband, and my mommy saw the baby was dead. When the doctors came back, they apologized, but they didn’t give me any explanation.”
In the days that followed, Gonzalez and her family took their concerns to the hospital’s Office of the Director of Medical and Professional Services. Gonzalez’s mother confirmed that they met an official who promised an investigation into the incident.
“They told us they would do the investigation and collect my number and my husband’s number, and they said they would call us, but nobody has called yet,” Gonzalez said.
“I waited nine months for my baby. I go to that hospital and put my daughter life in the doctor hand and look what happen.”
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