Hospital relents in dispute over American mother's HK$100,000 bill for premature baby
A baby born eight weeks prematurely in the city while his American mother was travelling to Xiamen is expected to be allowed a birth certificate today despite a dispute over spiralling hospital costs.
According to 37-year-old mother Wendy Morrow, Princess Margaret Hospital would not give her the documentation necessary to allow her to register for the certificate. That was because a bill, estimated atHK$100,000 and rising, was outstanding for baby Kyuss Morrow-Blau's urgent care on a special ward at the Kwai Chung hospital.
But hospital chiefs had a change of heart yesterday.
"First they wouldn't release the certificate unless we made the payments in full, but now they will release it despite the insurance not settling the cost yet," said Morrow. "They said they had made an exception and that we have to put pressure on the insurance company to pay."
Now just over a week old, Kyuss is expected to be allowed his birth certificate this afternoon.
Morrow and her sister Sara were in transit at Chek Lap Kok airport on May 6 when her waters broke. She previously gave birth to a daughter who had been a week late, and doctors in the United States had signed a note saying she was fit to fly.
Kyuss was born on May 7 weighing just 1.8kg. He had a breathing problem known as apnea and needed feeding tubes.
"I felt a little trapped," Morrow said of her plight in the city. She will needs the birth certificate to get a passport for her boy so they can return to the US for further treatment.
The hospital bill is expected to be covered by insurance from the air ticket and donations from well-wishers.
Luckily, the case has captured the imagination of American media, and television host, actress and comedian Ellen DeGeneres has donated a year's supply of diapers. Fundraising has totalled US$4,601 since the case went public.
