The pediatrician at Zakynthos hospital has been suspended from duty, while a sworn administrative investigation is being conducted by the 6th Health Region regarding the incident concerning the doctor’s absence during her on-call shift, when a five-month-old infant needed to be transferred with meningitis.
The infant incident in Zakynthos and the pediatrician’s response about working conditions
The Zakynthos hospital pediatrician had a scheduled on-call duty on Saturday when the five-month-old infant required immediate medical care due to meningitis. However, she was absent from the hospital, having taken sudden sick leave. Zakynthos residents report that this is not the first time this particular pediatrician has been absent from her post at the clinic during on-call duty. In her statements to LIVE NEWS, the pediatrician maintained that this was the first such incident. As she characteristically stated: “We are only 2 pediatricians, each of us does 16 to 17 on-call shifts per month. We are exceeding our limits, we are exhausted. It’s not for one, two or three months, it’s been 7 years. In the first year I held the clinic alone“. The doctor emphasized the difficult working conditions at Zakynthos hospital and the staff shortage in the pediatric clinic.
Zakynthos: The pediatrician’s countless trips abroad, social media photos & her post after the controversy
Since 2019, when the pediatrician took on duties as supervisor at the pediatric clinic of Zakynthos hospital, she frequently posted photos from her workplace. At the same time, numerous posts show her travels abroad. Specifically, she has visited: European destinations like Venice, Zurich, Monaco and Croatia where she spent Christmas, American cities like Los Angeles and Las Vegas in California, exotic destinations with tropical landscapes and golden beaches like Tunisia and the Sahara with adventures in desert landscapes, while at the same time, the pediatrician posted on social media photos of new Chanel product purchases.
The complaint against the pediatrician last September
Last September, an outraged grandfather of a 3-year-old child spoke on local radio about his ordeal at Zakynthos hospital that resembles in several points the incident that occurred with the infant last Saturday. “The child developed a problem, had broken out in rashes, red all over his body, on his face, everywhere. We went to the hospital on Wednesday evening. Some lady examined the child and sent photos to the pediatrician. The pediatrician was informed by phone and they tell them it’s chickenpox“.
According to the complaint, that evening neither of the two pediatricians serving at the hospital went to the emergency department to see the child. Instead, the pediatrician on duty gave instructions over the phone. The fact that the parents never came into contact with the pediatrician is evident from the fact that the people never learned whether it was a female or male doctor. Eventually the child did not have chickenpox as they were initially told but an allergic reaction to some antibiotic he had taken.
“Leaving the hospital the children received a phone call from the hospital telling them it might also be an allergy. And what do we do now? Nothing, they say, go home. The child was found the next day to have suffered some allergic shock from some antibiotic. We went to find certainty there and from the doctor’s certainty we had… photos. To photograph the child to send to the pediatrician. What are these things?“.
With a Facebook post at the time, the pediatrician had responded to these public complaints. “The infant in no case showed signs of anaphylactic shock, which constitutes a potentially life-threatening condition. In this case, the reference to allergic shock, beyond being inaccurate, reveals intent to falsely present that the infant’s life was endangered”.
“There was no one”
“I had no intention of speaking or coming forward. But I returned from work, saw it and said I can’t, I have to call”. His child was diagnosed with leukemia in September ’24. They spent a year at an oncology clinic in Athens and in May ’25 returned home to Zakynthos. During the summer the child presents severe abdominal pain, which understandably raised alarm.
“And we go on July 9 to the emergency department, they examine her. They see some elevated indicators and fear appendicitis. They don’t let us leave of course because they were also in contact with the oncologists, because they didn’t know what it could be”, the child’s father stated.
The entire medical and nursing staff rush to the child. Everyone, except for the two pediatricians who, as he complains, did not appear at the hospital for the next 24 hours either.
“They admit us to pediatrics and until July 11 there was no one. From July 9 to 11, no pediatrician had appeared. As a result I signed and left. Now whether the specific person or someone else was on duty doesn’t concern me, I have nothing personal against the lady”. Fortunately these symptoms were nothing serious but just the image of a child with leukemia being hospitalized in pediatrics and being handled by other specialties causes intense concern if nothing else. The pediatrician will remain suspended from duty until the completion of the administrative investigation.
