Public Defender's Office report exposes flaws in children's hospital A report from the Public Defender's Office of Maranhão (DPE-MA) pointed out problems in the care structure and the lack of specialized professionals in the Pediatric Intensive Care Units (ICUs) of Hospital da Criança Dr. Odorico Amaral de Matos, in São Luís. The inspection was carried out on Wednesday (15) by public defenders Davi Rafael Silva Veras, from the Children's Defense Center and the Teenager, and Vinicius Goulart Reis, from the Health Defense Center. ? Click here and subscribe to the g1 Maranhão channel on WhatsApp According to the Public Defender's Office, in all ICUs there was only one doctor on duty per sector to serve up to 10 highly complex beds. The absence of day-to-day doctors, technical managers and coordinators during the afternoon was also noted. The report also points out that some of the professionals who worked in the ICUs did not have the specialization required by resolutions RDC nº 7/2010 and RDC nº 137/2017 of the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa). In one of the cases, a doctor on duty confirmed that she did not have specialized training in pediatric intensive care. During the inspection, the Public Defender's Office also identified reports of lack of medicines and supplies. According to the agency, the information was confirmed by the hospital management, professionals from the unit and family members of patients. According to the professionals interviewed, when there is a shortage of certain medications, it is necessary to resort to therapeutic alternatives that do not correspond to the so-called "gold standard" of medicine. Family members also reported that, in some cases, doctors spent days without visiting beds and that there was a delay in administering medication to patients. Public Defender's Office says it found an insufficient team of doctors after inspection at the Children's Hospital Reproduction/TV Mirante Public Defender's Office calls for investigation After the inspection, the Public Defender's Office requested the rosters of doctors, nurses and physiotherapists, identifying the specialties of each professional, to verify compliance with Anvisa standards. The body also requested official reports on quality indicators and mortality rates for the months of May, June and July 2026. In addition, the Ombudsman's Office requested the opening of an internal investigation at the Children's Hospital and the Municipal Health Department (Semus). It also requested the activation of the State Committee for the Prevention of Maternal and Child Mortality to analyze recent deaths, with special attention to the case of twin babies. The report also recommends an investigation into the functioning of the hospital's Internal Regulation Center (NIR), after identifying discrepancies in information about the transfer of patients to other health units. Finally, the Public Defender's Office informed that it forwarded the report to the Public Ministry of Maranhão and the professional councils of Medicine (CRM), Nursing (Coren) and Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy (Crefito), so that the appropriate measures can be adopted. Agreement maintains ICU doctors for another 60 days Guardianship counselors act in support of families of dead children An agreement mediated by the Public Ministry of Maranhão guaranteed the continuity, for another 60 days, of medical services in the Pediatric ICUs of Hospital da Criança Dr. Odorico Amaral de Matos, in São Luís. The measure was taken during a hearing with representatives of the Municipal Health Department (Semus), the Municipal Attorney General's Office (PGM) and the Institute Brazilian Medical Services Institute (IBMED), responsible for managing the units. The hearing took place after IBMED requested a 114% adjustment in the contract with Semus, alleging increased costs to maintain medical teams, mainly due to the hiring of professionals from Teresina (PI), following the refusal of local intensive care doctors to establish a relationship with the company. While Semus informed that the request will be analyzed, PGM highlighted that any financial recovery depends on technical studies. Meanwhile, care in ICUs remains assured for the next two months. Secretariat requested emergency hiring of doctors The Municipal Health Secretariat (Semus) requested, on an emergency basis, the hiring of a company to maintain medical services in the Pediatric ICU of Hospital da Criança, given the impasse in negotiations with IBMED. According to the city hall, the 114.25% adjustment requested by the company was considered financially unfeasible. The memo highlights that the measure aims to avoid interruption of care and guarantee assistance to hospitalized children. The contract provides for 14 intensive care doctors to serve the unit's 29 beds and, if authorized, will last for 12 months, with no possibility of extension. Director of the hospital and doctors from the unit give testimony Doctors give testimony in an investigation into the death of a child at the Hospital da Criança The director of the Hospital da Criança Dr. Odorico Amaral de Matos, Julieta Carvalho Rocha, gave a statement to the Civil Police this Friday (17) in the investigation investigating the increase in deaths of children in the unit and the cases of the 4-month-old twins Bento and Bernardo. She was heard for more than an hour, following testimony from two hospital doctors the previous day. According to delegate Joviano Furtado, the director stated that she was not aware of a request for a place in the ICU for Bernardo and said that the child was treated in a room with a structure similar to that of an ICU. According to the delegate, the hospital director also attributed the difficulties faced by the unit to the change in the ICU management company, which had encountered obstacles in hiring doctors, and assessed that the increase in deaths recorded at the hospital was irrelevant. "There is information in the statement from the victim's own mother that she requested her son be transferred to the ICU and, according to the statements, this