The agreement that the Ministry of Health signed with the United Nations Office for Projects Services (UNOPS) can be an alternative for the purchase of the tomograph that the San Juan de Dios General Hospital needs. The only team in that center, donated by the Government of Japan, broke down due to lack of maintenance and stopped working in early April.
The team It is part of the acquisition list that will be made through the mechanismSaid the Vice Minister of Hospitals, Sandra Carballo, during meeting with deputies of the VOS bench, who arrived at the health center last week.
He mentioned that the agency has already visited the hospital, the recognition of the areas and the technical analysis of what is required.
In a request for information, the Ministry of Health indicated that the UNOPS is one of the available purchase modalities; However, for this to be done, The Executing Unit (Hospital) must make the request, because these are responsible for the “use and the acquisitions they do with their resources.”
While the purchase is concretized, Carballo indicated that, at the same time, the hospital will make a bidding event to acquire a tomograph, and if the one manages to deliver it before, then “the contest will be thrown away”; Otherwise, it will continue. The idea is to take the two processes in parallel, waiting for which one comes out first.
In this meeting it was indicated that a hospital like San Juan de Dios It requires four tomographs; However, it was identified that the facilities only have space available to install two; For a third party, another space would have to be search for.
For now, the viable are two: one could be acquired through the UNOPS or by a bidding event, and another that will be leased with a purchase option.
Different alternatives
According to Social Communication of the General Hospital, to provide tomography service to the population, the hiring of external services is carried out, the coordination with the Roosevelt, Villa Nueva and Chimaltenango hospitals to carry out the studies, and the search for the lease of the team.
They also work on the repair of the apparatus donated by Japan, which was found after the warranty defeated. In this regard, last week it was indicated that the Guatemalan distributor, Sociedad Anónima (Disgua), presented a quotation by Q696 thousand 640 to make the arrangements. The fault was detected after late maintenance, which had a cost of Q90 thousand.
This company has an official representation in the country of the Fujifilm brand, the same as the damaged team, so it is the only one that the work can do, which could take five to six months, since, due to the amount of the repair, a contribution event must be held.
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Before the expiration of the team guarantee, the hospital made the efforts to find other companies that gave maintenance to the tomograph donated by Japan, but only Disgua can do so.
Disgua could also be the firm provided by the tomograph in lease. The hospital director, Érika Pérez, told the deputies that it offers them to install it “immediately.”
Contests expire today
The San Juan de Dios General Hospital published in the Guatecompras portal three competitions for the hiring of goods and services with which it seeks to resolve the lack of the tomograph. Interested companies have until today, April 29, to present their offers.
Two of the events are for the Hiring of the computerized tomography service, for an amount of 428 studies with contrast medium. The diagnostic center must be 3 km or less away from the hospital.
The hospital requires that the company have the capacity to program appointments between 6.30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. from Monday to Friday, and from 6.30 p.m. to 12 am on weekends, and that you must deliver the report of the images via email in a time less than 24 hours.
The outsourcing of the service is one of the solutions that the hospital authorities have found not to disregard the population when a diagnosis tomography is required. The London Clinic has been conducting the studies for a contract of Q89 thousand 880as detailed in the contest with NOG 26108135.
The other event uploaded to the Guatecompras portal is for the Leasing of a tomography team for the Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Images. The technical specifications indicate that the offeror must provide an apparatus with continuous operation in 24 hours, seven days a week, and that it is installed inside the hospital, in the area destined for this purpose. In addition, the tomograph must have multiple cuts, up to 64 or more.
It is indicated that the contractor must take care of the pre -installation and installation of the equipment, in a period of eight weeks, without representing additional cost for the hospital.
The Hospital Social Communication Department said that the budget is both for the payment of the services contracted and for the repair and rental of the equipment.
Few tomographs
The portfolio also reported that In the public hospital network there are 12 tomographs To serve the population, and of these, two were under repair: that of Quiché and that of the General San Juan de Dios Hospital.
Before the consultation of why not all hospitals have a tomograph, it was indicated that it is because of the way in which the hospitals are categorized, since not all are designed to offer services equally, but are categorized according to complexity, the population they attend, the available resources, the resolution capacity and the portfolio of services they provide.
According to Deputy José Chic, of the Vos bench, it is not only about the tomographs; There are also problems with X -ray devices and mammographers. Although the UNOPS was raised as a solution to address this problem, because in addition to acquiring medicines, equipment purchase is also contemplated, the mechanism has not been efficient.
“There is a serious problem of the teams for the health system, but at the moment the strategy has not been presented to give it a solution,” said Chic.