GMH revisiting review of woman's death

by Mindy Aguon

Guam - The Guam Memorial Hospital's medical director confirms that an anonymous call has raised a need for further review of a woman who died in labor a few months ago.  The case was first brought up by Dr. Sam Friedman, who was nominated to the Guam Board of Medical Examiners. 

Lawmakers voted unanimously not to confirm him, expressing concerns that Friedman's statements caused alarm in the community about the standard of care being provided at GMH. Dr. Larry Lizama confirms that the case was reviewed by the department and no issues were found about the standard of care that was provided to the woman, but the medical director says based on information from an anonymous source, the hospital must do its own review of the case. 

The quality management team has been tasked to do root cause analysis of the woman's death as he says the case falls under a sentinel event category, which is supposed to automatically trigger a two-pronged investigation by the medical staff and the hospital.