The director of the National Health Service (SNS), Julio Landronremoved from office the head of the Salvador B. Gautier Hospital, Armando José Holguínduring a surprise visit made this Friday to the health center.
“Today we are removing the director and in the next hour we are going to place another director with his team, in order to also be able to guarantee the cleanliness, hygiene and bed circulation of each of the different patients that we have,” declared Landrón.
The official argued that “because you do not have the necessary resources“You have to have no area that does not comply with a monitoring and movement protocol for each of the patients.”
Armando José Holguínorthopedist-traumatologist, was sworn on May 24, 2023, replacing Dr. Miguel Ángel Geraldino, who went to the pension regime.
Previously, Holguín had served as deputy director of the Darío Contreras Traumatological Hospital.
About the Gautier
For years, the service chiefs of the Gautier Hospital and directors of the Dominican Medical College (CMD) have requested the financial intervention of the SNS to make up for the lack of medicines and expendable materials.
In August 2025, the cardiologist Fulgencio Severino warned about the abandonment conditions where the tertiary center is located, ensuring that, with the current situation, a “violation of the dignity of the patients” is even generated.
“This aging of the structure has been hindering the good coexistence of patients in the hospital, both in the emergency area, which is the most critical, and in the hospitalization area. The current panorama is a bed deficiencybecause there are many rooms in non-livable conditions, so they are closed,” Severino said at the time.
The hospital has also presented electrical problems derived from original wiring of construction and the inability to withstand the voltage necessary for the operability.
The Gautier was inaugurated October 24, 1951, previously called the Hospital of the Dominican Social Security Fund.
