Santa Cruz hospital directors will be chosen through merit and competency exams

Hospital directors in Bolivia’s Santa Cruz department will no longer be appointed directly by the departmental government under a restructuring process announced for third-level hospitals. They will be chosen through merit competitions and competency exams.

The Santa Cruz government has begun evaluating each hospital individually, according to departmental Health Secretary Germán Antelo. The review will consider the number of beds, the condition of infrastructure, available equipment, staffing positions, and the responsibilities assigned to each level of government.

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We will begin in the third-level hospitals, all through merit competitions and competency exams. After that, the municipal governments will do the same for all directors, heads, service heads, department heads, and so on. Logically, the entire health area will be through merit competitions and competency exams.

“We will begin in the third-level hospitals, all through merit competitions and competency exams,” Antelo told El Deber. He said municipal governments would later apply the same approach to directors, service heads, department heads, and other managers. “Logically, the entire health area will be through merit competitions and competency exams,” he said.

Antelo said the process aims to identify hospitals’ main needs and establish measures to improve their operation. He also said several proposals now being promoted by the national government are already part of the department’s agenda, including stronger primary care, digitalization, connectivity between facilities, functioning health networks, and telemedicine.

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We have already proposed the same thing the ministry is now proposing, that health care reach everyone and that primary care function properly.

“We have already proposed the same thing the ministry is now proposing, that health care reach everyone and that primary care function properly,” he said. Antelo argued that first-level centers should handle about 80% of health-care needs, making coordination among the three levels of care essential.

He described the end of direct appointments as one of the main changes. “There cannot be people appointed by personal choice; that must end,” Antelo said. The selection system will start with third-level hospitals and may later expand to other leadership positions across the health system.

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There cannot be people appointed by personal choice; that must end.