Public Health Minister Dr Jose Rodriguez Soldevilla admitted that the state hospitals are going through a difficult time and said he is trying to obtain a special subsidy to alleviate the problems. Readers will remember the recent troubles at the San Pedro de Macoris Regional Hospital reported in DR1 News. Rodriguez Soldevilla told reporters from Hoy that the crisis at the hospitals is directly related to the economic predicament facing the Dominican Republic, and in no small part due to the increased costs of fuels due to the electricity crisis. The minister refused to say how much the subsidies would be worth or from where he was seeking the funding.
The minister said the generators that had been provided to the hospitals had broken down due to excessive use during the long blackouts. While more than half of the government funds for the Luis Eduardo Aybar Public Hospital admittedly go to purchase fuel for the generator, the minister there was still no reason for any hospital to be dirty, as cleaning supplies are not that expensive. The minister voiced his favor for the creation of special electric circuits for the hospitals, as was done in Santiago?s two main hospitals where they benefit from ?privileged? electricity service.
Meanwhile, at the Dominican Social Security Institute Salvador B Gautier hospital in Santo Domingo, patients and staff joined together in a march to protest the unbearable conditions of the facility and the suspension of surgeries and treatment of chronic illnesses. Patients with catheters and IV units still attached marched from the hospital to the doors of the Social Security (IDSS) offices, where they were turned away by IDDS director, Dr William Jana.