The Dominican Medical Association under new leadership has begun to work closely with the government. 72-hours after assuming the presidency of the Dominican Medical Association (CMD), former association vice president, Dr. Wilson Roa met on Monday, 11 December 2017, with President Danilo Medina at the Presidential Palace. President Medina had not met with Roa’s predecessor, Dr. Waldo Ariel Suero during his presidency.
Also attending the meeting with the President were the secretary general of the CMD, Carlos Roa; Labor Minister José Ramón Fadul (Monchy), physician José Joaquín Puello, and the representative of the Dominican government in the Board of the Dominican Social Security Institute (IDSS), Rafael Rodríguez Sandoval. Also present were the president of the board of directors of the Clínica Unión Médica and member of the Dominican Association of Private Clinics (ANDECLIP), Daniel Rivera and the coordinator of social security for the Ministry of Labor, Gustavo Güílamo.
The Presidency reported the focus of the talks was the comprehensive reform of the health system.
In the afternoon, the new president of the CMD met with the public health authorities at the Universidad Católica de Santo Domingo (UCSD). The meeting at the UCSD was mediated by the UCSD rector, Reverend Jesus Castro Marte. Physicians José Joaquín Puello and Julio Amado Castaños Guzmán, rector de la Universidad Iberoamericana (Unibe), served as witnesses during the meeting.
Also participating in the Monday meeting were officers of the Ministry of Public Health, the National Health Service (SNS), the National Health Plan (SeNaSa) and the Superintendence of Health and Labor Risks (Sisalril). Castaños Guzmán said that there are expectations the needed reforms for the health sector could be in place by January 2018.
Following the meetings, Dr. Roa attributed the differences that lead to many work stoppages to a misunderstanding of the agreement (Pacto por el Sector Salud) signed by the CMD and the government in November 2016. The CMD under former president Dr. Suero organized frequent shutdowns of public hospitals to pressure the government to meet their demands. The work stoppages mainly affected the very poor. They did not affect decentralized government hospitals nor private clinics that work with paying customers or patients with medical insurance.
As reported, the parties agreed to prepare an agenda to discuss differences. Among the points to be discussed are wages, start of the primary care system, public hospital physicians compliance with the agreement stipulations and follow up of future agreements.
The next meeting is set for 20 December at 4pm.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
13 December 2017
