La Ceja Tackles Drug Shortage Crisis with Shock Plan

The Municipality of La Ceja is implementing a thorough shock plan to address a critical drug shortage crisis that has plagued the town. Patients have reported not only a lack of essential medicines but also incomplete prescriptions, forcing them to travel to Medellín to complete their treatments.

In an exceptional session of the Territorial Health council, officials from the Mayor’s Office, the Personería, and representatives from Drugstores, EPS Total Health, Sura, and Savia Health convened to review the escalating problem of medicine shortages and the numerous user complaints regarding healthcare services within the municipality.

During the meeting, the persistent delays in medicine delivery were highlighted. Users shared experiences of waiting up to four hours to receive their medications. More concerning were the denunciations of receiving incomplete prescriptions,wich have necessitated inconvenient and costly trips to Medellín to obtain the full course of treatment.

Mayor Ilbed Santa announced that several commitments were made to alleviate the situation. A significant agreement involves EPS Sura, which is transitioning its medication dispensing network. “the more than 57,000 users of the Sura EPS will begin to receive medicines from the neuromedical company. As of August 1, they will have their own place near the la Ceja hospital,” the mayor stated.

For EPS Total Health, a dedicated meeting has been scheduled to specifically address issues related to incomplete drug deliveries and the resulting need for patient travel. The new EPS, which was not present at the meeting despite representing the largest number of user complaints, has been formally notified. The Mayor’s Office has reiterated the urgent requirement for this EPS to present a concrete advancement plan and actively participate in ongoing discussions.

Furthermore, Colsubsidio has committed to establishing new supplier contracts to bolster inventory and ensure a consistent supply of medicines. They have also proposed that physicians prescribe alternative medications when a particular drug is unavailable. as an additional measure within this shock plan, administrative processes will be streamlined to expedite service, with an evaluation of progress planned in one month.