Hospital garbage draws neighbors' ire

Residents of Playa Leona and Puerto Caimito denounced on  Wednesday, August 19, the accumulation of garbage at the Nicolás A. Solano regional hospital, located in La Chorrera.

Media reports say the build-up was first seen a week ago, when the waste – including syringes, injection containers and gauze, among others – exceeded the area prepared for its containment.

The regional director of Health of Panama Oeste , Kevin Cedeño – who is also in charge of the hospital said  that in the next 24 hours the company in charge of collecting the wastes will remove them from the hospital.

Cedeño explained that the  hospital is operating at full capacity  because of the pandemic and each  hospitalized person produces three kilos of garbage (about 6.6 pounds) he said. Thr hospital has 300 hospital beds.