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The contracting of health residences to deal with the pandemic has become a real headache for the Undersecretary of Assistance Networks of the Ministry of Health. Not only are there problems in Santiago, the Comptroller General of the Republic detected a series of irregularities and ordered the execution of an administrative summary within the Antofagasta Health Service for the rental of a hotel in the area.
The Comptroller General of the Republic ordered the opening of a administrative summary within the Antofagasta Health Service (SSA), after detecting a series of irregularities in relation to the performance and operation of the health residence “Pacific Coast Hotel”Of the Antofagasta commune to face the Covid-19 pandemic.
The review, which took place between April 1 and June 30, 2020 -the date the contract was terminated-, was intended to verify “that the contracted services have been provided in accordance with established health protocols and agreements “, together with the fact that it has “controlled that the disbursement related to the aforementioned contract is duly supported”.
Specifically, the body led by Jorge Bermúdez detected the “Lack of supervision in the execution of the contracted services, without evidence that the SSA has carried out controls in the residence under study that would allow it to validate compliance with the agreed services, which, in turn, represents a weakness of internal control that exposes the entity to operational risk, sObtain eventual payments for services even when these have not been made in accordance ”.
In addition to the above, it was found that the Antofagasta Health Service, “Paid in the months of June and July 2020, for the services provided in the months of April and May of this year, respectively, provided by the “Hotel Costa Pacífico”, even though the administrative act that approved the hiring was pending the legal process “.
And there are still more. Among the most serious irregularities, the Comptroller’s Office “Observed that the cost of the contract is not consistent with the actual occupation of the sanitary residence, since, from the antecedents in view, it was noted that the total of the services and unused rooms amounted to $ 163,734,480 ”.
Along with the above, the Antofagasta Health Service paid the Sociedad Inversiones Millao Bernal Limitada three invoices for an amount of $ 304,078,320, “Without supporting documentation that certifies the services performed, limiting itself to attaching to each discharge, a certificate that confirms the services provided.”
It was also paid for non-existent services. “The hotel became unusable for six days as a sanitary residence, with the consequence that the entity paid for an unused service, that is, from April 1 to 6, 2020, the sum of $ 20,049,120,” says the audit.
But that is not all. The auditing entity detected that the “Planimetry that presented the municipal file to obtain the definitive reception of the ‘Hotel Costa Pacífico’, of the Antofagasta commune, shows that this property has 53 rooms, a situation that is not consistent with the 52 bedrooms which the SSA hired the services hoteliers “. Therefore, it adds that “eventually, the gross amount of $ 5,631,080 would have been overpaid.”
Faced with this serious anomaly, the Comptroller’s Office “will send a copy of this final report to the Municipality of Antofagasta, so that the Directorate of Municipal Works of that building entity, within its powers, verifies if the property is complying with what has been declared,” he says. The report.
Add and go
In addition to the administrative shortcomings and alleged overpayments already described, shortcomings in medical benefits were evidenced on the premises.
“The entry of minors in the health residence, the lack of evaluation of vital signs when entering the users’ property and the absence of control of vital signs during the stay of patients in the “Hotel Costa Pacífico”, situations that did not conform to the content of the ” Coronavirus action plan protocol – health residences ”.
Finally, and after all the points objected to by the Comptroller, “it was noted that the record of manual assistance of the servants who made up the medical team of the health residence, was incomplete, without stating that they had complied with their working hours , as agreed in the respective fee contracts signed with the SSA ”. This item was the only one corrected by the Antofagasta Health Service.
This case joins the one published today by Biobiochile.cl in which the same control entity initiated an administrative summary within the North Metropolitan Health Service due to anomalies in the hiring of the Radisson Hotel.
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