M.O.H. C.E.O Confirms Shortage of Medical Materials
Ramon Figueroa
There is a shortage of medical supplies affecting public hospitals and clinics across the country. This was confirmed to News Five by the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ramon Figueroa. According to Dr. Figueroa, the ministry is in short supply of bandages, syringes and gauzes. As you can imagine, this has been greatly affecting the service that those in the public health care system offer. Dr. Figueroa says it’s not the ministry’s fault but the fault of the private supplier.
Dr. Ramon Figueroa, C.E.O., M.O.H.
“We do have an issue with one particular provider in terms of getting syringes, gauzes, bandages and medical supplies. We are in the process of purchasing some items for right now to be able to cover the lead time supposedly that the provider has for them to bring in the supplies. We are having a little bit of disagreement in terms of what the lead time is because we expect that all the materials be delivered next week. I was just made to understand that the provider is saying that the lead time is at the end of August. That is not our understanding. So we are going to deal directly with that provider to make sure that the things are here on time. The time when you start counting is the contention because some of them are saying that it is the time when they signed the contract. We are saying that we had advised some of the providers from before they signed the contracts, long before we circulated the list of items that they had gotten from the tender process. They had enough time to start ordering their materials. So that is part of the problem. The other part of the problem is that of course it took a little bit longer in terms when we doing the tender process. We wanted to have everything ready by February. I think it took longer than that. Those are some of the factors that probably led to us having this shortage. Primarily for me it is the provider that needs to deliver on time.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Is that does not happen?”
Dr. Ramon Figueroa
“We will purchase from the private and bill that provider.”
Hipolito Novelo
“Okay if that does happen and the medical supplies are purchases from the private sector, the cost will not be passed to the consumers?”
Dr. Ramon Figueroa
“No. Part of the contract agreement is that if we have to purchase from another provider at a higher cost, the person who got the contract or the company who got the contract absorbs that additional cost. So it will not be the government absorbing or the consumer. It will be the provider.”
