2023-12-15 04:11:11
14/12/2023
The General Hospital of Medellín (HGM) has been accumulating prestige for more than eight decades, but in the last four years it has been falling towards an abyss and, as if it were an inexorable destiny, the city administration, which is its owner, has remained undaunted without proposing solutions or helping to correct the causes of a crisis that foreshadows a fatal outcome.
At this moment we will see the December bonus for part of the almost 2,000 workers (there are 1,166 plant workers and 700 contractors) and a good part of them have not even been paid their November salary.
Reports from the same directives indicate that the hospital went from reporting profits of $17,148 million in 2021 to accumulating losses of $66,776 million in 2022.
Apart from that, last year it closed with accounts payable for more than $66,000 million and with a decrease in income of 20% (from $287,768 million in 2021 it went to $229,472 million). There is also a revealing fact and that is that administrative expenses rose by 23%, from $46,771 million to $57,948 million in the same period.
Manager Mario Fernando Córdoba has blamed the increases in supplies and medicines, the closure of some services by order of the Health Section, and the portfolio receivable exceeding $260,000 million.
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However, councilor Alfredo Ramos, the Todos por Medellín oversight office and unions of the same hospital speak that corruption and mismanagement have abounded within the General.
Already from the beginning, in 2020, the version spread in circles related to health and contracting that they had handed over the main public hospital in the capital of Antioquia to a family business group to manage it as they pleased, as in a kind of franchise, and that would have involved $5,000 million.
So far neither the complaints of alleged corruption within the HGM or lack of management by its directors nor the protests by employees over lack of salary nor the most recent statement in which Córdoba accepts an unparalleled financial crisis have even motivated a reaction from the former mayor Daniel Quintero nor the interim successor Óscar Hurtado nor the Health Secretaries that have existed in this administration.
As if the rumors were actually confirmed and the General was an island in which no authority other than that of the supposed business group that would be the true power in the shadow of Córdoba operates.
At the end of 2021, the Todos por Medellín oversight office reported to the Prosecutor’s Office the existence of an alleged family cartel in El General, headed by Óscar Manuel Villegas, his wife, three children and others close to the family. That clan would not only have influence through several firms controlled by them in the contracts related to the HGM but also in the Concejo de Medellín Children’s Hospital and other healthcare centers.
As Councilor Ramos (Democratic Center) revealed a few days ago, this would have resulted in a turnover of close to $80,000 million in this period in the HGM.
Todos por Medellín described a modus operandi in which the first step of “taking” the Hospital’s contracting would have been the reform of the internal manual in order to expand the amounts in which management can contract without open competition or the need for authorize the board. That step would have been forged by the then General Secretary of the Mayor’s Office, Jhonatan Villada, who after doing the same in several departments and companies of the municipal conglomerate was awarded a vice presidency at EPM.
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Then came the placement of the Villegas family’s records in key positions at the hospital, the main one being Córdoba, who took office as manager on May 19, 2020. Curiously, the resume he exhibited at that time did not include that His last position was as manager of the Conquistadores Clinic, which is not at all similar in size to the General, but he is a neighbor of the Villegas, who have had their residence and some business headquarters in the Conquistadores neighborhood. The oversight office documented the relationship of the Villegas with three firms with which the HGM contracted without competition in 2020 for food, hygiene and supplies and medicines, among other things, through the allocation of future validity periods that allowed the resources to be available for the entire period that coincides with the Quintero administration, when the usual thing is that it is done every year.
In this regard, the Prosecutor’s Office is targeting contract C-122 for food, awarded to the Ser Colombia corporation for $13,798 million. This was transferred in 2022, after many questions, to a firm that was in the public spotlight for failures in another contract with EPM for almost $40,000 million for the supply of food in Hidroituango.
Another contract is 103-C of 2020, for the provision of cleaning services plus the supply of supplies to carry out this work, for more than $13,442 million; There was a contest with three guests: one who did not send a proposal and another who was disqualified, leaving only the one who finally won due to material theft: the Asís Association.
These two firms, like a third, Casapharma, with which the General and Metrosalud has contracted the purchase of medications and surgical supplies for more than $9,000 million, have several things in common: not only did they go from being unknown to winning contracts from recognized competitors, but have had communication channels with the Villegas, through direct family members or close friends. In this way, cartelization could be taking place, a behavior that is penalized even with prison if it involves public resources, as in this case.
Also: Medellín General Hospital: with more investment in this mayor’s office and in crisis, where does the money go?
When EL COLOMBIANO reported on these complaints, a source who was linked to the General assured that he once chose a different bidder than the one indicated by the Villegas and had to go to his Conquistadores offices to explain. However, according to other sources, after public complaints, the Villegas would be acting more discreetly and through intermediaries.
Recently Ramos mentioned other companies that would also be related to this way of operating, such as Tecni Lavar, Tramisalud, Gestión y Mandato Corporativo, Funvibra, Blueone Solutions, Intercom SAS, Alear Colombia and Intersalud SAS.
Even, say other sources, they would have influence on professional and union associations with which they are outsourcing the hiring of healthcare personnel.
The unions attached to the Hospital point out that while millions are spent on luxurious matters such as a hydraulic elevator ($12,000 million), the so-called “technological integration” ($16,000 million) or the repair of the auditorium ($2,112 million), the building suffers from leaks and does not There is not even toilet paper for patients.
“The annual investment plan has 21 modifications in 2023, almost two per month, and that shows improvisation. For example, in the first annual plan they had allocated $44 million for maintenance of the auditorium and in version 17 or 18, the one for September or October, $2,112 million appeared for the same purpose, and it was hired for that amount,” highlighted a union executive. .
The splicing team of the incoming mayor, Federico Gutiérrez, has set its sights on the HGM; However, his spokespersons said that they have only been able to hear the complaints and hear the explanations, but that it is the control organizations that have the last word.
Since the end of last year, the Attorney General’s Office has been investigating Córdoba and the former director of Logistics Support Erika Pino, for alleged irregularities in hiring. It is worth remembering that before being part of the General, she was linked to the Villegas companies and in the Prosecutor’s Office file it is mentioned that she acted as “their eyes” in that place.
The Medellín Ombudsman also recently opened an investigation against those same two people for alleged omissions and improper actions in a contract signed in 2020 with Tecni Lavar.
There is no known progress in the criminal investigation.
Even in crisis, they invest $12.5 billion in a new system
In the midst of the serious crisis that the HGM is experiencing, there is indignation among those who wonder why, if there is a shortage of supplies to care for patients and delays in payments to professionals, the current administration invested $12,571 million in a system to transport medicines and other medical materials . As someone says, there is a paradox of acquiring a vehicle without often having something to transport in it. In addition, they express concern because they see it as very difficult for them to deliver the project before December 31, as stipulated in the contract.
Employees and members of the institution’s unions say that it is evident that the incorrect definition of priorities to invest resources has contributed to the hospital’s difficulties, and they do not understand the need to allocate a million-dollar amount at this time to change a job that is being done manually without problems.
“That is a waste of money, that system is a waste right now. And it contrasts with the times when you have to tell the patient to bring their toilet paper because there is none,” said Juan Camilo Toro, of the Sinprogen union, who announced that today they will hold another sit-in outside the entity against delays in payments to workers. and investments destined for things that would not be priorities.
The hospital’s directives have another view: they indicated that the project has the transportation capacity required for a high-level institution like the HGM, which “will improve patient care times and material transfer times.” They maintained that the selected pipe has the maximum diameter on the market to accommodate the materials.
But in the opinion of the union leader, doctors and nurses, the HGM is not in a good situation to undertake this type of work. “They paint the facade of the house and have an empty refrigerator,” said one of them.
In the hospital you can see tubes sealed with security tape, which are part of the physical infrastructure being built for the project.
The contract in question is 101C, signed on June 23 to assemble and enable the “Hospital pneumatic shipping system and software for the automation of HGM logistics processes.”
It was signed by Liliana Ricaurte as manager in charge and Christian Jhavier Susa, representative of Alear Colombia SAS, a firm that was awarded the $12,571 million, through private call number 6 of 2023, as recorded on the Secop platform.
The truth is that this is a complex system, which is why there are rumors in the hospital corridors that it will not be possible to have it ready in time. The directives indicated that the progress is 75% and recognized that it is delayed a month due to issues related to the payment of the 50% advance to the contractor.
The pipeline is just one of the parts of the work, which also includes a turbine; diverters to transport medications; chips and sensors; software to program and coordinate operation; capsules made of antibacterial material; assistance stations; and control and monitoring units.
The project also involves technology to identify each capsule sent and its products, generate statistical data on the time a shipment takes and who is the person who sends and receives, as well as scheduling priority dispatches to emergency areas, ICU or bank. of blood.
The system must be able to mobilize medications, blood samples and others for laboratory processing, blood for transfusions, plasma fractions and medical devices.
Alear, the contractor that has the challenge of delivering on time, registers several contracts with the HGM on the Transparent Management platform. However, the pneumatic delivery system has the highest value of everything reported between 2020 and 2023 (about $16,757 million).
The second largest contract in this period is $3,799, signed in December of last year for the renewal of nursing calls. The others are almost all of much smaller amounts, except for one of $198 million.
In the last administration, the company was a contractor for the public hospital, with approximately $318 million in total, between 2016 and 2019, taking into account the Transparent Management reports.
In both administrations, the majority of contracts are for repair and maintenance.
The expectation now in the HGM is that they can see the million-dollar system working through which Alear was already paid the advance payment of $6,285 million, corresponding to 50%.
“It became a political directory”: Ramos
Ramos accuses the technical lack of profile of the HGM staff as another origin of the crisis. He assures that “it became a political board,” after indicating that the manager would not be the most suitable person to lead the current situation. But also, he is surrounded by personnel appointed with political criteria.
For example, the director of Logistics Support, Zalua Karina Cypre, is a former councilor of the municipality of Santa Ana (south of Magdalena) who in 2019 became a candidate for mayor of that municipality on behalf of the Radical Change party. The deputy manager of administrative and financial processes, Liliana Ricaurte, has appeared as a member of the Liberal Party in Cisneros, while Charles Figueroa, a former advisor to manager Córdoba, has been a councilor and candidate for mayor of La Estrella.
Although complaints abound, the control bodies have initiated investigations into what is happening in the General, but few results are known and until now there has been no sanction, as if these were processes where, for some inexplicable reason, there are “untouchables.” ”.
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