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On February 14, three weeks before the first case of covid-19 was confirmed in Colombia, a resolution officially named the doctor Gabriel Mauricio Vélez as manager in charge of the General Hospital of Medellín.
This gynecologist and obstetrician, who has worked for 24 years at the institution, inherited the position after the Office of the Attorney General definitively suspended the previous manager, Jesus Eugenio Bustamante, for irregularities in a contract.
The new manager (e) spoke to EL COLOMBIANO about the challenges facing the pandemic and the financial health of the hospital, which is considered to be the most important delivery room in the city.
How has HGM prepared to deal with the pandemic?
“I would highlight the pre-triage area, in the area outside the institution, where the arriving patients are classified and, according to the symptoms, two paths are opened: one green and the other violet. On the one hand, green (hope color) for patients who have the possibility of having a covid-19 type disease, and on the other hand, we give security to patients who consult for other pathologies so that there is no such mixture and go to other attention. Maternal and pediatric come from the other side too. We have two hospitals in one and that has allowed us to prevent contamination and provide all the care. “
How careful are the medical personnel who work in the hospital?
“We have reinforced biosecurity processes in the institution based on all the protection elements for covid-19 type patients and for the rest of activities that have risks. Both the ARL and different entities such as the Ministry of Health of Medellín and the Health Section of Antioquia, have supported us to provide peace of mind in the management of patients. It is worth highlighting the recent delivery of 586 protective glasses, 290 anti-fluid gowns, 1,200 face masks, among others. For administrative and healthcare personnel, 450 masks are delivered daily. ”
How much was the reinforcement in ICU beds to prepare for the arrival of the peak of infections?
“The beds were redistributed. Normally there are 442 beds in general, but with the adjustments they have been modified. Before we had 23 ICU beds and now we have 43 (20 new ones), and we have five more that are being organized and we are waiting for the teams to arrive. Special care, which are also for critical patient management but do not have fans, we have 30 beds and they are located in the south tower, on the eighth floor. That was key, increasing the capacity of critical patients care “.
What percentage of occupancy do they have of ICU beds and the rest of services currently?
“It has dropped a lot and to date we have an occupancy rate of close to 55% because we have been more focused on preparing ourselves to receive patients. There is a lot of uncertainty because we do not know when complicated patients will arrive, but we must send a message of calm: we are prepared to adequately attend to all those who require it. ”
I ask about the financial health of the hospital …
“We continue to follow the directions of the Mayor’s Office, the Interior and others, but of course that is a subject that worries us because, for example, not attending to external consultations is not receiving a great income for the institution. We only attend to the prenatal part, fetal medicine and everything post-surgical. Outpatient surgery and dentistry are also closed, that is, there are several healthcare services closed due to the pandemic. It reduces the invoicing and that unleashes a blow in the finances ”.
Is the EPS portfolio still a problem?
“We have tried our best to get it back, but we need more. We need the different actors in the health system to pay us because it is not that we are receiving additional resources to attend the pandemic. All adjustments and separations have been with own resources. We call on the Ministry of Health because we have not received a single peso. For the adaptation of the new ICU beds and the protection material, the Mayor’s Office invested and contributed $ 7,029 million and we $ 11,247 million. ”
Is it true that you are going to operate the 80’s clinic?
“We are in the process of signing the inter-administrative agreement. We have supported consultancies and we work hand in hand with the EDU (see To know more) because they are finishing doing all the infrastructure and they have to give us the guarantees to enable some floors, which would initially be the sixth, fifth and the fourth partially. They are finishing to adapt because the clinic needed maintenance. They had to run power plants, adjust the entire air conditioning system, the medical gas network. The idea is to operate 90 hospital beds.
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