Understand how the crisis in hospitals in the Metropolitan Region overloads the health system in Porto Alegre | Rio Grande do Sul

A emergency occupancy rate from Porto Alegre exceeded 200% at the beginning of April, according to the Municipal Health Department. The situation, according to the authorities, is motivated by a crisis in hospitals in the Metropolitan Region.

In this report, g1 explains what happens It is What is the government’s guidance for those in need of assistance?:

Two municipalities neighboring Porto Alegre face problems in the management of their hospitals, both administered by the Fundação Universitária de Cardiologia.

The hospital in the city of 187 thousand inhabitants underwent a change in administration on Monday (1st).

The University Foundation of Cardiology, responsible for managing the unit for 25 years, ended the contract saying it did not have the resources to pay employees’ severance pay. The hospital began to be managed by the Associação Beneficente João Paulo II, from Recife.

However, according to workers, the transition from one manager to another was marked by inconvenience. Patients complained about the delay in care.

Protest by employees fired from Alvorada hospital

With 136 thousand residents, Cachoeirinha is also undergoing a change of administration at Hospital Padre Jeremias.

The site is also managed by the University Foundation of Cardiology, which will leave the unit in the next few days. Workers who fear being left without labor rights, as in Alvorada, went on strike.

Despite the restrictions, 30% of the team maintains urgent and emergency care. Care for those already hospitalized and for those in a serious situation is normal.

Cachoeirinha Hospital employees protest

The Secretary of Health of Porto Alegre, Fernado Ritter, states that the situation in neighboring municipalities “It’s having a big impact” the emergency situation in the Capital.

“The less serious patients, the blue and green ones, have a waiting time that can exceed 10 hours. Obviously, the more serious patients, they are seen immediately. This causes discomfort, dissatisfaction, but this is closely associated with the process of Metropolitan Region, which needs attention”, he states.

Porto Alegre’s Health Secretary asks people to “try to exhaust the possibility of care within their municipality”, in health units or in prompt services.

“Look for a Porto Alegre or a large municipality as a last resort, because the service will take time and, generally, it will generate dissatisfaction or lack of assistance”, says Ritter.

The University Foundation of Cardiology says it does not have the R$41 million needed to pay labor rights.

The state government states that it is open to dialogue and that, if necessary, patients hospitalized in Alvorada and Cachoeirinha will be transferred to other hospitals. The State Department of Health also says that “the focus of public authorities is on measures to ensure continued access by the population to health care in the hospital, without interruption of care through the Unified Health System (SUS)”.

The president of the Union of Hospital Professionals of RS (Sindsaúde RS), Júlio Jesien, states that “the problem is widespread” and that there is a lack of public investment to maintain care in the Metropolitan Region.

The RS Medical Union (Simers) states that the crisis is “unprecedented” and that “the Gaucho government says that everything is fine and that the provision of resources to municipalities is not a problem”.

The Regional Council of Medicine of RS (Cremers) asks the State Department of Health to execute “a contingency plan for the allocation and transfer of patients to other units, with extensive communication to the Municipal Health Departments”.

The Regional Nursing Council of RS (Coren-RS) states that it will contact “the Public Prosecutor’s Office, among other instances, so that care can be reestablished with quality and safety.”