Undocumented treatment of foreign patients in the HD unit of St. Marina Hospital, Varna Translation from Bulgarian:

Original in Bulgarian

Back to chronology

		From: Reneta Todorova Stoyanova, Personal ID # [...] [address] 26-May-2003
To: Chief of 2nd Police Station Varna Cc: Minister of Internal Affairs of Republic of Bulgaria

Re: Undocumented treatment of foreign patients in the HD unit of St. Marina Hospital, Varna

Dear Sir,

In the abovementioned HD unit, where I have worked since 1987, a procedure of UNDOCUMENTED highly costly hemodialysis on 16 Belgian and 13 Israeli patients has been initiated and performed in the period as specified: Belgian citizens – two groups of 8 patients on: May 22, 24, 27, 29 2003 and 3-Jun-2003; Israeli citizens – one group of 13 patients once on 27-May-2003 from 6:30 p.m., while on 27-May-2003 throughout the whole day only foreign citizens the will be dialyzed in the HD unit.

THE STAFF HAS BEEN PROMISED EXTRA PAYMENT FOR THIS SERVICE GIVEN 'BY HAND'.

The dialysis procedures of these foreign citizens are not recorded in the register for dialyses conducted in the HD unit. More specifically: up to this moment neither the names nor the numbers of the dialyses for the unit have been recorded, nor the dates of dialyzing of the visiting foreign patients in the register for conducted dialyses. This register is kept by the nurses on duty and is available in the big 13-station room, on the dates: 22 and 24-May-2003, when total of 32 dialyses procedures have been conducted. There is another register which records all patients who start dialysis in our unit regardless of whether they are our temporarily guests or our regular patients, and where the total number of the dialyses conducted when the patient has left the unit is recorded, even if there is only a single dialysis. This register is kept by the head nurse, Boyka Demireva. We have had foreign patients on a visit before but they were always duly registered and never before were we ever promised extra payment given 'by hand'.

I WOULD LIKE TO URGE THAT YOU MAKE AN IMMEDIATE CHECK AND TAKE THE MEASURES FOR WHICH YOU ARE AUTHORIZED.

THE MOST CONVENIENT DAY FOR YOU TO CHECK IS 27-May-2003 – Tuesday – so as not to alarm our regular patients, about 80 in number. On Tuesday, 27-May-2003 only foreigners will be dialyzed; for this purpose the usual schedule of our patients has been altered from a dialysis-free day Sunday to a dialysis-free day Tuesday for this week.

I have enclosed a letter which I sent to the relevant competent authorities regarding other infringements in connection with the epidemiologic situation in the abovementioned unit.
Today I was called to a talk in the office of the executive director of the hospital and I informed him orally about the undocumented treatment of the foreign patients.

Yours faithfully

Signature: