In July 2023, S\u00e1ndor Farkas, a Fidesz Member of Parliament for the constituency of Szentes, published a Facebook post to reassure local voters. There was a lot of dissatisfaction with the closure of the maternity ward in the hospital in the town, and mothers in Szentes organised a protest action. Farkas, sensing the public mood, made a promise when he announced on his social media platform that \u201ethe maternity ward will be reopened from September at the latest\u201d.<\/p>\n
Had that happened, a family tragedy might have been avoided.<\/p>\n
Piroska Varga-D\u00f3sa, 37, was in the 14th week of her pregnancy in September 2024 when she developed worrying symptoms. She experienced unusual, light bleeding and visited doctors, private clinics and the Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic of the University of Szeged several times. According to her husband, J\u00f3zsef Varga, a self-employed contractor in the construction industry, his wife was very careful during the pregnancy and did everything to ensure the baby’s health.<\/p>\n
However, the bleeding has not stopped. They finally decided to go to the hospital in Szentes too, to be on the safe side. Since the closure of the maternity ward in Szentes at the beginning of 2023, the hospital has provided outpatient care and one-day surgical procedures when patients can go home the same day. After the examination, the gynecologist wrote the following sentence on Piroska’s hospital paper: \u201einpatient observation is advisable\u201d. In other words, the examination showed that Piroska should be admitted to hospital.<\/p>\n
Direkt36 managed to reach the doctor, who confirmed that this was his recommendation.<\/p>\n
\u201eIf there had been a ward operating, I would have sent her upstairs immediately,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
(The building has a specialist ward on the ground floor, while the inpatient department of the maternity ward was upstairs when it was still open.) J\u00f3zsef, the husband, also said that if the department in Szentes had been in operation, \u201cmy wife would have agreed to stay there\u201d.<\/p>\n
Following the examination in Szentes, Piroska and her husband went back to their private doctor \u2014 but despite the previous recommendation, he didn\u2019t send them to the hospital.\u201cAll he said was that nothing was wrong,\u201d recalled J\u00f3zsef. The man added that they did not go to the hospital in Szeged because they felt that his wife’s complaints had not been taken seriously there before. We contacted the private doctor treating the woman, but he refused to comment on the case.<\/p>\n
Three days later, at dawn on 29 September, they woke up to find blood all over the woman. J\u00f3zsef immediately went to the ambulance station in Szentes and the paramedics took Piroska to the Szeged clinic.<\/p>\n
They were in constant contact on Messenger, and Piroska always wrote down what was happening to her in the hospital. \u201cI was completely devastated,\u201d she wrote to him when she found out they had lost their fetus. The woman was then taken to the operating room in a wheelchair. By that time, she was already quite unwell and had fainted. The medical report confirmed that her uterus had ruptured and she had suffered major blood loss. When the doctors came out in green clothes from the surgery room, J\u00f3zsef recalls that everything was \u201ccovered in blood\u201d. It turned out that they had spent half an hour trying to resuscitate his wife, but had not told him at the time. J\u00f3zsef said that he was not allowed to see his wife until four hours after the operation had begun. During that time, he had not been informed whether the operation had been successful. When he finally got in to see her, he was horrified to see that his wife\u2019s face and hands were greyish black. According to him, \u201cby then, she had already bled out.\u201d He spoke with two midwives who, he says, dismissed his concerns by saying, \u201cCalm down, Daddy, everything\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n
He refused to let it go, asking in a raised voice for help for his wife. Only then was an ultrasound scan performed. The scan raised the possibility of internal bleeding, so she was transferred to intensive care, where his wife was operated again. Piroska died on 4 October, five days after the first operation.<\/p>\n
After the death of his wife and their unborn child, J\u00f3zsef turned to a lawyer. L\u00e1szl\u00f3 \u00c1brah\u00e1m, a specialist in medical malpractice cases, told Direkt36 that his client had suffered damages because the obstetrics department in Szentes was not working, because \u201cthe hospital did not ensure that the renovated maternity ward had an obstetrician to cover the whole region.\u201d<\/p>\n
In J\u00f3zsef’s opinion, the clinic did not adequately inform him of the risks and possibilities. He feels that waiting too long to have a caesarean section could have caused the problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they’d operated her back then, yes, the baby would\u2019ve been lost, maybe she could never have another, but she might still be here.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The University of Szeged finally settled with J\u00f3zsef out of court at the beginning of June this year: the family will receive a 42 million forint compensation – first reported by D\u00e9lmagyar. The lawyer is currently negotiating a monthly allowance with the clinic, a process he says is still underway.<\/p>\n
A complaint has also been lodged with the National Centre for Public Health and Pharmacy (NCPHP) for negligent endangerment causing death in the course of employment. The complaint states that the woman had repeatedly reported abdominal pains and light bleeding, but the doctors did not suspect the possibility of a ruptured uterus and did not perform a caesarean section earlier. This complaint remained unanswered for more than six months.<\/p>\n
According to J\u00f3zsef, the clinic hasn\u2019t contacted him in any way since his wife passed away \u2014 not even to offer an apology. \u201cI can’t get my wife back, I can’t get my child back, but I might be able to help others,\u201d he said, explaining why he had gone public with their story.<\/p>\n
Neither the Szent-Gy\u00f6rgyi Albert Clinical Centre at the University of Szeged nor the National Centre for Public Health responded to Direkt36’s questions.<\/p>\n
Join the Direkt36 supporters\u2019 group and get insight into investigative journalism! Details \u2192<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n
We investigated the tragic case in Szentes in the framework of our project \u201eHemorrhaging Hospitals\u201d. This is based on a database of official decisions on the closure of hospital wards, the first of its kind in the Hungarian press. It not only shows which hospitals were most affected by the closures, but also gives a general picture of the dire state of the Hungarian public health system.<\/p>\n
This article focuses on small-town hospitals, using examples from the Southern Great Plain to illustrate the difficulties they face and how these affect patient safety.<\/p>\n
No doctors, and no children at the renovated maternity ward in Szentes<\/h2>\n
There used to be three hospitals with maternity wards in Csongr\u00e1d County<\/span>, but with<\/span> the closure of Dr Istv\u00e1n Bugyi Hospital in Szentes, expectant mothers can now only give birth in H\u00f3dmez\u0151v\u00e1s\u00e1rhely and Szeged.<\/span><\/p>\n
Six years ago, the people of Szentes were delighted to hear that the maternity ward, located in the hospital’s pleasant park, would be renovated for 80 million forints. The infrastructure and equipment upgrades <\/span>were completed<\/span> two years later, and Deputy Minister S\u00e1ndor Farkas, the region’s representative in the National Assembly, attended the handover ceremony. The mayor of Szentes, Zolt\u00e1n Ferenc Szab\u00f3, said that many parents from rural areas choose the Szentes hospital because of the atmosphere of the maternity ward and the professional work carried out there.<\/span><\/p>\n
Barely a year after the development, there were already rumours that the ward’s operation could be in jeopardy. At the end of 2022, mothers in Szentes started a movement on Facebook to save the maternity ward. They tried to attract doctors to the institution by sharing videos, photos, and their own birth experiences. They were unsuccessful: in early 2023, the NCPHP suspended the operation of the inpatient ward for an indefinite period. <\/span><\/p>\n
In the summer of 2023, the University of Szeged took over the management of the hospital. Then, many hoped that the department would reopen. S\u00e1ndor Farkas, the Fidesz MP for the region, repeatedly stated that the departments in difficulty, including the maternity ward, would return to Szentes. In July 2023, he made the specific promise quoted at the beginning of our article that the maternity ward at the Szentes hospital would reopen \u201cby September at the latest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
However, this has not happened to date, meaning that it has not been possible to give birth at the hospital for more than two years. A doctor who previously worked in the department told Direkt36 that even in 2021, there was a shortage of doctors in the maternity ward. Even before the closure, they could only cover the on-call shifts by bringing in external doctors.<\/span><\/p>\n
The minimum personnel and equipment requirements for each department <\/span>are defined<\/span> by law. \u201cThese include, for example, the required number of doctors and other healthcare staff in each department, as well as the equipment that must be available.\u201d The maternity ward in Szentes operated with 25 beds, and according to the minimum professional requirements, there should have been seven doctors in the department. <\/span><\/p>\n
According to a source who previously worked there, the department operated with six doctors even before it closed, meaning that there were not enough to meet the requirements stipulated by law. In addition, most of the doctors were retired or approaching retirement, being professionals over the age of 60, he added.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
According to the source, the hospital <\/span>tried<\/span> to find a solution to the shortage of specialists so that the department could reopen<\/span>: they<\/span> advertised positions <\/span>and asked<\/span> for help from <\/span>the the clinic<\/span> in Szeged, but were unable to replace the doctors.<\/span> Another source with insight into the hospital’s operations confirmed that they tried to request doctors from Szeged<\/span>, but<\/span>\u00a0they <\/span>were told<\/span> to \u201cfigure it out themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>He understands that the Szeged clinic is also struggling with a shortage of doctors, <\/span>even though<\/span> their <\/span>job is to provide<\/span> regional care for the most seriously ill patients.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201c<\/span>It’s like an untreated ulcer\u201d that’s eating the hospital.<\/h2>\n
At the Dr. Istv\u00e1n Bugyi Hospital in Szentes, despite being affiliated with the clinics of the University of Szeged, it wasn’t just the maternity ward that was struggling. Last summer, <\/span>it was reported<\/span> in the press that the otolaryngology department was not accepting inpatients. The operator justified the reorganization by stating that comprehensive inpatient care was \u201cnot professionally or financially viable,\u201d <\/span>so more complex procedures were transferred<\/span> to Szeged. Planned prosthetic surgeries <\/span>were also <\/span>transferred<\/span> to the clinic. The press department of the University of Szeged told RTL H\u00edrad\u00f3 that Szeged offers the most modern care and that patients have the best chance of recovery there.<\/span><\/p>\n
According to another source working for the municipality, the reason behind all this is a severe shortage of doctors, which affects almost every department. <\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past 1-2 decades, a few doctors have been carrying the whole thing on their shoulders,\u201d <\/span>he said.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The biggest problem<\/span>, <\/span>in his opinion,<\/span> is that the University of Szeged is not informing the public at all about the fate of the departments at the Szentes hospital.<\/span> \u201cIt\u2019s like an ulcer that isn\u2019t <\/span>being treated<\/span>,\u201d he said, referring to the hospital\u2019s decline.<\/span><\/p>\n
The University of Szeged did not respond to Direkt36’s request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n
According to the decisions on department closures posted on the NNGYK website, there have been a total of 10 cases since 2020 in which a department at <\/span>the<\/span> Szentes hospital was unable to operate for a period <\/span>of time<\/span> and another hospital was designated to replace it.<\/span> Half of these cases were due to a shortage of specialists. In other words, according to official data, there have not been many temporary ward closures in recent years. However, the above examples show that several wards are gradually shrinking, with <\/span>certain<\/span> procedures <\/span>being transferred<\/span> to the large county institution.<\/span><\/p>\n
Several sources familiar with the operation of the hospital in Szentes have stated that the closure of the maternity ward <\/span>was not based<\/span> on professional considerations.<\/span><\/p>\n
Mainly because Szentes had previously had the highest number of births among the small hospitals in the region: in 2022, there were 676 births in the hospital, compared to around 700-800 in previous years, and the maternity ward accounted for the majority of the hospital’s patients. In terms of the number of births, the hospital <\/span>was surpassed<\/span> by less than 30 births in 2022 and 2018 by the hospital in H\u00f3dmez\u0151v\u00e1s\u00e1rhely, which is also much closer to the clinical center in Szeged than Szentes, from where the route to Szeged\u00a0is almost twice as long.<\/span><\/p>\n
H\u00f3dmez\u0151v\u00e1s\u00e1rhely merged with the small town hospital in Mak\u00f3 in 2013, following a proposal by then-mayor Fidesz politician, J\u00e1nos L\u00e1z\u00e1r. Even then, there was a <\/span>serious<\/span> shortage of specialists at the Mak\u00f3 hospital, and the merger <\/span>was expected<\/span> to remedy the situation. <\/span><\/p>\n
However, both the people of Szentes and Mak\u00f3 were disappointed. For example, the maternity ward has not been operating in Mak\u00f3 since 2020, nor have the pediatric ward and the psychiatric inpatient ward. Three years ago, the director general said that they were unable to reopen the departments due to a lack of human resources. He also reported that in 2023, 387 women from Mak\u00f3 gave birth in H\u00f3dmez\u0151v\u00e1s\u00e1rhely, which was almost two-thirds of all births. Based solely on the number of births, maintaining the maternity ward in H\u00f3dmez\u0151v\u00e1s\u00e1rhely is less justified than those in Mak\u00f3 or Szentes. <\/span><\/p>\n
Neither the H\u00f3dmez\u0151v\u00e1s\u00e1rhely-Mak\u00f3 Health Care Center nor J\u00e1nos L\u00e1z\u00e1r responded to Direkt36’s questions.<\/span><\/p>\n
The decline of small hospitals may also endanger patients<\/h2>\n
The entire southern Alf\u00f6ld region \u2013 B\u00e1cs-Kiskun, B\u00e9k\u00e9s, and Csongr\u00e1d counties \u2013 is full of small-town hospitals. <\/span>Szentes, Orosh\u00e1za, H\u00f3dmez\u0151v\u00e1s\u00e1rhely, and <\/span>Mak\u00f3<\/span> are located<\/span> 20-30 <\/span>kilometers<\/span> apart, and their residents are <\/span>attached<\/span> to their hospitals, which <\/span>were built<\/span> during the socialist era.<\/span><\/p>\n