Although it sounds absurd, the Minister of Public Health Freddy Hidalgo had to tell reporters from Listin Diario that he would “punish” hospitals that “bounced” patients who were in a critical state to other institutions in order to keep their statistics in order. The minister said that he has sent a letter to the regional directors and to the hospitals regarding the “drastic” measures to be taken in cases of these irregular transfers. He mentioned a case that was reported in Listin Diario involving a family that was forced to go from hospital to hospital in search of care for a relative, and said that a commission is investigating the case. The newspaper describes this common practice as “evidence of the dehumanization of medicine”.