The management of the National Health Service (CSS) under the administration of Juan Carlos Varela has been plagued by scandals. A number of dubious cost overruns as well as contracts adjudications to preferred companies with ties to the current Director have been the subject of many complaints. Additionally, protests over the falling quality of services provided to the insured have also been on the rise: complaints over the lack of proper medical supplies and medications have been the order of the day.
Faced with condemnation on the part of the population, the reaction of the CSS board of directors has been notable for its absence. Their silence extends beyond that, to the increasing number of appeals that the CSS Director, Estivenson Giron, be relieved of his duties. One of the more contentious decisions of the current administration concerns a contract for the rental of 97 ambulances for a period of 5 years, at a whopping cost of $24m. Many have criticized the modus operandi of the CSS, believing that it would have made more sense to buy those transport units outright. Alfredo Berrocal, Secretary General of the National Association of Civil Servants (Fenasep), qualifies said contract as an “insider deal”, adding that the CSS Director’s outsourcing plan was “plain dangerous”.administrative shortcomings, Mr. Giron’s ethical conduct is also called into question. His recent trip to Europe, at the expense of a potential supplier, has been the object of an internal investigation by the highest governing body of the CSS. In late January of this year, Mr. Giron accepted the invitation of Ht Labor Hospital Technick AG, a German company specializing in the construction of modular hospitals, to a field visit in Germany. This followed a trip to Brazil at the end of 2014, whose alleged purpose was to inspect some light-weight bricks that may be used in the construction of the Hospital City in the capital. The latter is a major project, dating from the previous administration, which was unilaterally suspended by the current government for supposed irregularities, and which has been completely paralyzed for almost two years. Its construction was supposed to resume last January 15 2016. However, in spite of much fanfare in a public announcement that included the presence of President Juan Carlos Varela, not a single brick has been laid since then, allegedly as a result of lack of personnel on the part of the construction company. While the outcome of the CSS internal investigation will be made public in about a month, some defend the actions of Mr. Giron, apportioning blame on his administrative team.
