ASSE dismisses Mercedes Hospital director over alleged irregularities

The State Health Services Administration (ASSE) has dismissed Joselina Ibarburu, the director of the Mercedes Hospital in Soriano, following allegations of irregularities in payments to medical staff. Sources confirmed to El País that the decision stems from issues related to how doctors were being compensated and managed.

An internal note from the Mercedes Hospital administration highlighted specific cases, including an anesthesiologist allegedly holding two contracts, one for 24 hours and another for 12 hours that was not being worked. This anesthesiologist was also reportedly claiming payment for 200 additional reserve hours, equivalent to eight days of work. Another case involved a psychiatrist who, despite being contracted for reserve shifts, was seeing significantly more patients than scheduled, many for medical certifications outside the normal procedure.

These findings led ASSE to instruct the psychiatrist to adhere to their contract, after which the psychiatrist resigned. This situation necessitated other specialists reducing their clinic hours to cover the reserve shifts. The dismissal of Ibarburu occurred shortly after her deputy director and administrator submitted complaints to ASSE concerning the hospital's management, particularly the ongoing issue of doctors not fulfilling their contractual duties and respecting clinic appointment schedules.

In a letter dated August 17, the deputy director and administrator detailed an agreement made upon their arrival to negotiate with doctors to ensure they met their functional commitments and clinic schedules, avoiding long waits for patients. They stated that ASSE President Álvaro Danza had initially supported this initiative. However, they noted that by May, despite a meeting with Human Resources and other authorities, little progress had been made in ensuring doctors adhered to their work hours.