The Public Defender’s Office (DPU) will ask the Ministry of Health to unlock hospital beds in the federal network in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, prevented by lack of employees. The agency also wants to know the current deficit of health professionals in the six federal units in Rio. The DPU will also request a meeting with the Assistance Coordination of the State Superintendence of the Ministry of Health, to address the issue.
The city of Rio de Janeiro has been waiting, since last week, for a response from the federal government on the request to reopen beds. The agency was contacted to answer questions from the CNN about vacancies, but still no response. According to the municipal secretary of Health of Rio, Daniel Soranz, currently the federal network has 941 closed beds.
“The situation of federal hospitals in Rio is absurd. There are 941 closed beds and every day they present a smaller production. The person in charge of federal hospitals in Rio is a political indication and not an indication of the Minister of Health and does not respond to a single letter”, says Soranz.
The ministry asked the ministry to reactivate 400 beds, 250 at the Federal Hospital of Bonsucesso and 150 at the Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital (HUCFF-UFRJ). According to Soranz, these 400 beds would be enough to meet the increased demand, although they represent less than half of the unavailable places.
Last week, the Minister of Health, Marcelo Queiroga, said that the portfolio could double the number of beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to meet the demand generated in the country by the advancement of the Ômicron variant, if necessary.
As for the reactivation of beds in the federal network and the hiring of new professionals to CNN contacted the Ministry of Health, but has not yet received a response.
Since a fire destroyed a wing of the Bonsucesso Federal Hospital in 2020, services have not resumed. In November last year, a DPU Inspection found that about 700 professionals who worked at the unit were assigned and, even after the completion of the recovery works, the Ministry of Health has not determined the return of employees to the hospital of origin.
On December 29, 2021, the ministry published in the Official Gazette of the Union a notice of summons, on a temporary basis, of 75 health professionals to the Federal Hospital of Bonsucesso. On the list of specialists summoned are surgeons, intensivists, laboratory technicians, pathologists and nutritionists.
Reference: CNN Brasil
