Due to lack of payments for nine months, A group of 20 pediatricians from the Children’s Hospital Concejo de Medellín announced that they will stop their work from this Sunday, April 24, starting at 7:00 at night.
The decision was made by the Human Talent in Health organization, which brings together the medical personnel who have provided service since its foundation in this institution attached to the Medellin mayor’s office.
This Thursday night, the hospital boards were notified of the decision by email, according to the pediatricians’ lawyer, Esteban Bustamante.
“Currently, the hospital owes all services since June 2021. The debt exceeds 1,600 million pesos and corresponds to salaries, social benefits and social security of the specialists who work in said institution”, says the announcement.
The affected care corresponds to the emergency service and more than 100 pediatric beds, including those in the pediatric ICU, “patients who must be regulated before other institutions to ensure the fundamental right to health,” warns the medical organization.
The announcement of the cessation of activities of the pediatricians comes days after hospital employees denounced in this medium that there is a shortage of medicines in the facilities and supplies such as wristbands to identify patients, toilet paper and disposable towels to dry hands, elements that are essential to provide a service under the quality standards required in a health institution.
This last fact was denied by the entity’s executive director, Carlos Mario Correa, who described the complaints as imprecise and pointed out, in an internal statement, that the consumption of paper napkins has increased a lot in recent months, to which is added that there is a shortage of the reference that is usually used in the hospital, for which, as a contingency measure, They put another reference in strategic points.