Health Ministry raises concerns over mandatory service bill for specialists

Uruguay's Ministry of Public Health (MSP) has expressed reservations about a legislative proposal that would mandate two years of mandatory service in public health institutions for newly qualified specialists.

The bill, championed by ruling party legislator Federico Preve, seeks to combat a deficit of healthcare professionals, especially in the country's interior regions. It proposes that these specialists, along with other health professionals, must provide mandatory and temporary medical services for up to 16 hours per week in public health facilities like the State Health Services Administration (ASSE). Failure to comply would result in the MSP withholding professional title registration and licensing.

However, the MSP, represented by Undersecretary of Public Health Leonel Briozzo, has outlined three key concerns. Briozzo stated that while the ministry fully agrees with the diagnosis of significant territorial inequalities in healthcare access, the bill's subjective scope remains unclear, leaving ambiguity about which professional categories would be included. Furthermore, the proposal assigns the MSP the task of determining healthcare needs and assigning professionals without clear coordination mechanisms with service providers or defined terms for hiring, supervision, and financing.

Briozzo also highlighted that the project does not account for the economic costs associated with relocating professionals. He raised questions about the legal feasibility of conditioning professional licensing on mandatory service and the system's actual capacity to absorb all the professionals affected by the proposed law. Deputy Luis Gallo echoed these concerns, calling the mandatory aspect a "significant hurdle" and suggesting an incompatibility that could lead to work disruptions.