Official Apology Video Uploaded on Hospital's YouTube Channel
Daegu Catholic University Hospital, which faced controversy over child abuse for posting photos of newborns and inappropriate captions on social networking services (SNS), has admitted its wrongdoing and uploaded an apology video.
On the 6th, on the hospital's official YouTube channel, Kim Yoon-young, director of Daegu Catholic University Hospital, stated in the video, "We deeply apologize for causing concern to many people due to the inappropriate actions of a nurse in our neonatal intensive care unit," and added, "We sincerely apologize especially to the parents who entrusted us with their precious children, causing them great shock and pain."
Daegu Catholic University Hospital recently posted an apology video on its official YouTube channel on the 5th regarding the recent controversy over neonatal abuse in the intensive care unit. Kim Yoon-young, the hospital director, is speaking in the video. Screenshot from Daegu Catholic University Hospital YouTube channel
He continued, "It has been confirmed that the nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit posted photos of newborns along with inappropriate captions on her social networking service (SNS). All members of the hospital deeply feel responsible," and said, "Such actions cannot be justified for any reason."
Director Kim said, "The hospital immediately removed the nurse from her duties and decided on severe disciplinary action. We are also cooperating sincerely with ongoing investigations by the police and health authorities," and added, "We deeply understand the shock and pain felt by the parents and the public, and we will do our best to resolve this." Furthermore, he said, "We will thoroughly educate all staff and review the hospital system and organizational culture to prevent recurrence."
On the 3rd, Director Kim of Daegu Catholic University Hospital acknowledged the hospital's fault and promised a 'public apology' including to the parents of the affected infant.
Nurse A, working in the neonatal intensive care unit at Daegu Catholic University Hospital, posted photos of her working in the NICU along with photos of patients on SNS last month. Along with the photos, Nurse A posted captions such as "Anger control disorder coming up" and "Feeling like falling (impulse)," which were criticized as inappropriate for medical staff caring for newborns, sparking a child abuse controversy.
A netizen who saw these photos posted a message titled "I want to report premature infant abuse in the neonatal intensive care unit of a university hospital in Daegu" on an online community, bringing the incident to light.
The infant's parents filed a complaint with the police, viewing the verbal abuse, posting of photos, and failure to wear sterile gloves while caring for the newborn intensive care patients as child abuse.
The Daegu Police Agency is currently investigating Director Kim and the nurse accused of abuse on charges including child abuse. At the same time, following the parents' claim that "there seem to be at least 5 to 6 abused patients," the police are investigating whether there are other nurses who aided or abetted the abuse.
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