The Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc, accompanied by the Director of Protection of Human Rights and the Director of Protection of Human Rights of Women, made a follow-up visit to the Arnulfo Arias Madrid Hospital Complex of the Social Security Fund ( CSS) to verify the supply of the warehouse and the kitchen area, after a report last June revealed a shortage of food, mainly meat.
Leblanc reported that there has been an improvement in the amount of food compared to the previous time.
“We have realized that there is some shortage, but it is due to non-compliance by some companies that have not delivered the products on time, such as the yam that has not been delivered. The most important thing is that what is in the warehouse and in the cold room is enough to supply the more than 800 people who are hospitalized,” he stressed.
He specified that this visit was a surprise and they were also able to see the moment the food was served, the types of diet: regular diets, diets for certain pathologies. In addition, the cold rooms and warehouses were supervised.
“We have asked the Social Security Fund to inform us where the bottlenecks are and thus sit down with the director of the entity to find a formula, so that the Panamanian people do not suffer from shortages as a result of unfulfilled delivery and promises, or if there is an internal problem and the rights of the Panamanian population are not violated,” he said.
Leblanc explained that in the inventory they have rice, but “they told us that they have problems with the packaging due to a change in the law due to the issue of caring for the environment; the supplier sometimes does not bring the eggs completely, as well as some vegetables “.
Last June, the Ombudsman’s Office opened a complaint about the shortage of meat foods, both in the cold rooms and in the food storage area and on the menu of the Arnulfo Arias Madrid Hospital Complex of the Social Security Fund.
At that time, the visit was made by Julio De Gracia, director of Human Rights Protection of the entity, who determined that this represents a violation of the rights of patients.
The Ombudsman, Eduardo Leblanc, has also inspected the Gustavo Nelson Collado and Cecilio Castillero hospitals in Herrera and the Anita Moreno hospital in Los Santos.
