Replacement for aging children’s hospital stymied again

After sitting on the backburner  through two  governments the plan  to build a  new  children’s hospital to replace the aging and overcrowded Hospital del Nino  has returned to its accustomed position as the   Public Procurement Directorate  partially annulled the report prepared by the  commission that evaluated companies interested in participating in the tender and  ordered the Ministry of Health to conduct a new analysis of the companies that had been discarded in the prequalification for not meeting certain minimum requirements.

The companies named the Posco-Samsung Consortium, Acciona Construction and China Camc Engineering will have a new opportunity to bid.

Building a new children’s hospital has become the most complex and delayed public health project of the last two government administrations.

The current structure on Avenida Balboa dates back to 1958 and reaches its maximum intake capacity every day.

The current administration (2014-2019) undertook  prequalification act  to choose companies that fit  the profile to be in the tender for the work, but again, the actions of several consortiums were discarded by the Ministry of Health  evaluations committee  and objections followed

Paul Gallardo, director of the  Hospital, said that they are not against the claims,  but although they request that they are resolved as quickly as possible, both by the evaluation commission and by Public Contracting.

According to Gallardo, the only real thing they have is a totally full hospital, with no space to take care of the population, a situation that is aggravated by the closure of hospitals on the periphery.

“We are worried about the situation and we are waiting for a possible light,” he said.

He told La Prensa that there is still time for the project to be tendered and awarded, provided that they begin to do the procedures quickly and expeditiously.

According to hospital data, an average of 380 of the 399 beds are full on a daily basis.

About 100 000 children are treated annually in the  emergency room

Between 10,000 and 15,000 children enter and graduate from wards annually, some after long stays

If the government wants to leave a healing mark on its record it will have to get cracking. It has only nine months left  in its mandate and has not earned a reputation for speedy action.