After a 10-year wait, the Luis Eduardo Aybar Medical City announced the happening of its first surgery. Maria del Carmen Castillo was operated in the neurology unit to remove a hernia. The surgery marked the debut of the operating rooms at the public hospital whose renovations began in 2014.
The operation of the 64-year old woman under Dr. Rafael Cleto Ramirez concluded successfully.
Before the operation commenced, Housing and Edifications Minister Carlos Bonilla visited the medical center to inspect the newly operational facilities. The Ministry of Housing & Edifications is responsible for the construction of the mega medical center.
Speaking to Listin Diario reporters on the medical process and the unveiling of the new spaces, Bonilla highlighted ongoing efforts to gradually open other areas, including the emergency ward in Building B, which houses the Maternity and Pediatric Hospital, among other spaces.
Minister Bonilla has taken an active role after a report in Listin Diario denounced the turtle pace of the renovations at the hospital, despite this being 70% concluded when the change of government in 2020. Legal situations with the contracts are said to have been the main cause of the delays.
Listin Diario carried complaints by the center director, Dr. Jose Joaquin Puello, who begged action be taken to open the hospitals. Dr. Puello denounced that millions in medical equipment were being lost as these were losing their guarantees.
Bonilla now told the newspaper that other areas within Block A of the Health Center were being delivered, including a biomedical office, three intensive care unit beds, three isolated ophthalmology operating rooms, three general operating rooms, pre-operation and pharmacy facilities.
Additionally, three consultation rooms for the neurosurgery unit, eight pre-operation beds, eight post-operation beds, a general ophthalmology operating room, an isolated neurosurgery operating room (which was used on Thursday), a waiting room, a sterilization unit, a maintenance office, and laundry facilities were also handed over.
Designed with a capacity of approximately 1,000 beds, this hospital complex began construction in 2014, with two of its blocks inaugurated in 2021.
Listin Diario has reported that currently less than 20% of the hospital complex is operational. The only fully operational services include the outpatient clinic, which serves between 5,000 and 7,000 patients daily, along with a modern clinical laboratory and part of the administrative area.
The Health Center comprises 13 facilities, including ten newly constructed ones and three existing ones: the Cardio-Neuro-Ophthalmological and Transplant Center (Cecanot), the Gastroenterology Center, and the Dominican-Japanese Friendship Center (Cemadoja).
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Listin Diario
15 July 2024