Social Security and
Union's representatives
announced the end of the strike,
which affected public medical
services throughout the country
for eight days, from August 9th
to 12th.
Román Macaya-Hayes, president of
the Social Security said that an
agreement was reached, between
the institution and the union,
to normalize the medical
services in the country.
"The agreement was signed after
almost 42 hours of negotiation
that began on Sunday, and ended
on Monday, after eight days of
strike that caused setbacks and
discomfort to hundreds of
patients throughout the national
territory," said the Social
Security in its statement.
According to Social Security,
the agreement establishes that
the Courts of Justice will have
to resolve the conflict between
the institution and the union
leaders.
As part of the negotiation,
Social Security will request
before the Courts a declaration
of injury that allows the
nullity of the agreement signed
on February 20th.
For its part, the union will
present to the Courts of Justice
a complaint about that
agreement.
The court will determine which
of the parties is right.
According to Social Security
statistics, 67,632 medical
consultations were canceled
during the strike, "which
represents a 38 percent impact."
The majority of hospitals and
clinics that did not attend to
patients, because they were on
strike, are in the province of
Guanacaste*, "which is
equivalent to more than 70
percent affected," said Social
Security in its statement.
As A.M. Costa Rica
previously reported, Authorities
of the
Monsignor
Sanabria hospital*
in the province of Puntarenas
complain about the attitude of a
private ambulance staff member
who dumped a patient on the
floor of the corridor of the
emergency room on Friday.
Authorities did not provide the
name of the private ambulance
service.
According to Dr. Randall
Álvarez-Juarez, director of the
hospital, Friday at 1:38 p.m.
the private ambulance staff took
a patient from the
Barranca
clinic* and
dumped him in the hallway near
the hospital's emergency room.
Faced with an unusual situation,
the authorities are analyzing
the possibility of taking lawful
action against the private
ambulance service.
"In the Monsignor Sanabria
Hospital we have the video where
you can see what happened and it
will be a piece of evidence in
case when we decide to file a
legal complaint," said the
hospital authorities in its
statement.
Dr. Randall Álvarez said the
complaint would also be referred
to the authorities of the Social
Security clinic in the community
of Barranca because the
ambulance service was hired by
those in charge of that clinic.
The patient is currently in the
hospital observation service.
"The treatment was given after
security, medical, and nursing
personnel lifted them from the
ground," said the hospital
authorities its statement.
According to Social Security
report, during the days of the
strike of last week, from Monday
to Friday, 149,333 medical
appointments were scheduled, of
those, 57.536 were canceled.
Friday at noon, 8,865 employees
had been reported on strike.
Among those, most are nurses and
general service staff such as
cooks, laundries, and cleaning
services, among others.
Social Security authorities
confirmed that a complaint was
filed at the Public Ministry
this week, of a possible case of
negligence that may have caused
the death of a patient.
According to the complaint, a
patient surnamed Castro-Calvo
went to the
Public
Hospital in Alajuela*
to be treated in the emergency
room. In the hospital, a doctor
checked the patient over and
considered his health problem
not to be a serious one. The
patient was then referred to a
local clinic, known as Ebais.
The patient died hours later
without receiving medical
treatment.
According to the Social Security
authorities, the case is being
investigated. Because there is
also a complaint in the Public
Ministry, no further information
can be given in this case, until
the investigation is resolved.
Social Security Union, known as
Undeca, has been on strike from
Monday of last week.
In a press conference,
the president of Social Security
Román Macaya-Hayes said one of
the reasons union members went
on strike is due to false news
that the institution would be
privatized in the near future.
"Nobody is privatizing Social
Security," he said.
Another false statement,
according to Macaya-Hayes, is
regarding changes in the form of
salary payment to employees.
"The form of salary payment has
not changed," he said.
According to the union, they are
protesting mainly against bill
No. 21.097, which seeks to
establish a list of essential
public services, including
medical services, in which
employees' right to strike may
be limited or restricted.
They are also protesting against
"the government, political
parties, and deputies that have
been promoting the privatization
of the Social Security, due to
business interests," said union
in its statement.
According to the union's
statement, the political parties
approved the Law to Strengthen
Public Finances, which intends
to be applied to Social
Security. That will leave the
decision to the Minister of
Finance to manage the
institution's budget to pay for
health services, medicines, and
the construction of new care
centers, among others.
Unions are also protesting about
the General Concessions Law
"that allows privatization in
the administration of health
centers," they said in their
statement.
On August 5th, Social Security
authorities requested the Labor
Court to declare the strike
illegal.
