B. Eugenia Giraldo
THE HOMELAND | MANIZALES
The last patient occupying an Intensive Care Unit at the Santillana Clinic was referred yesterday at 6:00 in the afternoon to another health institution.
IPS Clínica su vida, which operates this ICU, closed yesterday after failing to reach an agreement with EPS Medimás, which owes it some $ 6.2 billion for accounts since 2017.
The manager, Gustavo Adolfo Contreras, said that the contract also ended by mutual agreement with his employees.
He stressed that this is not done at the whim of the Board of Directors, but because there is no way to answer for the accumulated obligations. “If Medimás does not make payments that exceed the monthly filing, instead of improving the situation of the IPS, it will lead to an insolvency closure,” which is what is happening at the moment.
New reconciliation
Yesterday, after a meeting in which EPS, IPS, delegates from the Superintendency and the Secretary of Health of Manizales, Carlos Humberto Orozco, participated, what was evidenced according to Contreras, is that there was no conciliation, but an imposition of Medimás.
“According to EPS, they do not owe $ 6.2 billion, but $ 2.1 billion, which they would pay in four months.”
The IPS manager said that he had already warned that in order to continue operating and correct the accumulated past due credits, they needed $ 3.2 billion, and an additional $ 1.8 billion to cover the current amount.
Against this background, the positive is that thanks to the Superintendency, a new meeting was scheduled this Monday to make a new payment commitment. “If Medimás agrees to pay in August, at least the value it has in its accounts, the UCI can immediately open and the contract with the same employees will be resumed,” he concluded.
“It would be very difficult not to have these critical care beds that are absolutely necessary at this time of the pandemic”, Carlos Humberto Orozco, Secretary of Health.
In Caldas there are 210 Intensive Care Units.
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