The director of the Jose Maria Cabral y Baez public hospital in Santiago, Rolando Baez, has expressed his concern that there has been an increase in the number of pregnant Haitian women arriving to the Santiago hospital in critical conditions. The public hospital offers free services to all patients. The director said that of on some days, of 10 women who give birth, eight are from Haiti and arrive with complications that require treatment in the intensive care unit. “These women often arrive in a life- and-death condition,” he said during a press conference yesterday, Thursday 9 January. He said that most of the Haitian women arrive without having undergone prenatal tests, which makes things difficult for the attending physicians. He said that the hospital statistics showed that 26% of the women who give birth at the hospital are Haitians who make the trip through the border for this purpose.
He said that in 2013, services were provided to 25,022 foreigners, and most of them were Haitian. He said that 12,226 patients from Haiti underwent lab tests at the hospital. 3,994 Haitians arrived at the emergency room requiring immediate attention.
www.elcaribe.com.do/2014/01/10/mas-haitianas-dan-luz-cabral-baez