Honestly no idea. This is his previous history with botched surgery, and the actions taken by the hospital, quoted from the report:

From May 2023 to August 2023, the hospital identified a total of 3 surgical errors. All 3 errors involved Surgeon A (this is the guy in the news story).

In May 2023, Surgeon A removed part of a patient's pancreas instead of the intended adrenal gland. Surgeon A had not performed adrenalectomies at the facility. Corrective actions included to immediately stop scheduling adrenalectomies, counseling surgeons on the use of surgical markers and proctoring at least 5 cases. Proctoring was not competed because the hospital no longer performs adrenalectomies.

In August 2023, a patient was identified to have a bowel perforation following a partial colectomy performed by Surgeon A. Patient died from infection complications. Corrective actions included referral to the Credentialing committee for potential actions. However, per Credentialing Manager interview, this is not one of the Credentialing committee functions.

In August 2024, Surgeon A performed a splenectomy on Patient #1(this is the one from the news story). Surgeon A removed the patient's liver instead, resulting in hemorrhage and death. Surgeon A had not performed a splenectormy at this hospital in over 3 years, since July 2021. The Hospital suspended Surgeon A's privileges and initiated an investigation.

Interviews with 8 sampled operating room staff found 6 staff with concerns regarding surgical practices by Surgeon A. These concerns were reported to the Operating Room Manager and/or Operating Room Director, but no further action was initiated. Staff interviews identified 2 additional patients with possible surgical errors by Surgeon A that had not been investigated. Surgeon A was observed to sever the common bile duct on a Patient during a Cholecystectomy in April 2024 and sever a ureter on another Patient during a partial colectomy in July 2024 resulting in an Urologist being called to the operating room for repairs during the surgery of that Patient.

Quotes taken from: https://zarzaurlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AHCA-Report-1.pdf starting on page 19.

Massive doctor shortage maybe? Either way this is unacceptable and on them.

Nah, this is normal in the medical world. You think the Thin Blue Line is bad, you should see doctors cover each other’s shit. It’s one of the reasons their insurance is so high.

why was the hospital protecting this guy so much?

Because lawyers will now look into his history and the lawsuits will be huge.

Firing a doctor they hired is a bad look for them, so they try to avoid it at all costs.

This is just medicine