And just about an hour ago, Dr. John Sosa, Martha Habet and Beatriz Thompson came by our office to respond to the allegations made by the administration. First off, Sosa wanted to dispute allegations made by the administration against a doctor, alleging that he was involved in the acquisition of supplies purchased at above market value price. The doctor was not named in the press conference, but Sosa did name him Dr. Jose Guerra – he also defended him.
Dr. John Sosa, President – BMDU
“With Dr. Guerra, he has a tender with Central Supplies for precision documeters, what you check blood with for diabetics. He gives those away, the machines itself, and sells the strips for $75 a bottle. The previous supplier sold the strips for One Touch at $117 a bottle. That tender is with Central Supplies. Dr. Guerra sells sutures and has done so on four or five previous occasions when the hospital runs out and cannot find anywhere. How does he do it? He calls his daughters in Guatemala, they go to a pharmacy to buy it, they send it to Melchor, he goes, picks it up, and brings it to the hospital. So that includes a cost that will go up. He says it is around $300 but he is buying from a pharmacy and he is at the fourth or fifth person in line that they will look for and he has done it four or five times and that is the truth.”
Jules Vasquez,
But administratively even, why would they make that choice that seems so practically inefficient and cost inefficient?
Dr. John Sosa,
“You have to ask Central Supplies why they don’t supply the hospital with sutures, that is the bottom line.”
And while he defended Guerra, Sosa and his colleagues did not hold back on the hospital administration. They say the charges brought generally against the doctors are bogus and deceptive. Here’s more of our interview.
Jules Vasquez,
They are accusing the doctors of profiteering off the public hospital off the people’s hospital.
Dr. John Sosa,
“Can they tell us which other doctors are making money off the hospital? Do any other doctors sells them pills, medication that De Las Fuente does for the majority of stuff they buy? They still have not answered in their press conference why one supplier get all their business. They didn’t answer that. They still have not answered if those prices are false. I don’t know if they really refuted that. We still need those answers, they haven’t answered that. Show us why you take one supplier from a pharmacy in Orange Walk and personally I don’t know the people or have nothing against them, but why do they get most of the business. And if you want, you can actually go to the suppliers around Belize and ask them why do you have to sell to De La Fuente first and then De La Fuente to the hospital. It would be interesting to ask and find out why.”
Jules Vasquez,
In your opinion, has the hospital gained any moral advantage in terms of pinning some of the blame on your members, on members of the BMDU?
Dr. John Sosa,
“I believe the hospital or the board is defending itself at all costs for some reason or maybe many reasons. We as doctors, as nurses, as everyone in hospital know what we have to live with everyday. We just won’t say things like that, we just wouldn’t say oh I dislike him personally and I will do this because I dislike him. Things have to be really bad, really drastically bad for someone to do something like what we do. Something is wrong somewhere, you just don’t do things like that – it is not logical and doctors are not dumb people. They may not be intelligent and have common sense but they are not dumb.”
Jules Vasquez,
They have said specifically that they will not honour the MOU that you all are going to put to them. They have said basically they will not be moved. What next?
Dr. John Sosa,
“We cannot be going back and forth. On Monday we will have a meeting with the Labour Commissioner. Before that on both sides, we should have meetings with the Labour Commissioner for him to see what we have and on what grounds
we stand and what things we want. If they are intransigent and say we won’t move, we will have to negotiate. We have a meeting on Monday supposedly with the Labour Commissioner as mediator. We will go from there.”
Jules Vasquez,
The administrators have painted a picture where the doctors, they say, are rising up now because and I will put it in plain terms, they did not, because they have slowed down the hustle because everybody was in on the hustle from the PUP era and there were no controls and now that they putting in controls, you all are raising another red herring to try and distract from the fact that it is about hustle.
Dr. Martha Habet, BMDU
“It is not because we hustle before and we are not hustling now, I personally and none of us here hustle before or after, never. But the problem is that we also give time to the new administration to work and to show us what is the difference but we are not seeing it. It is more than one year and we are just not seeing it. They say follow due process and I think we waited long
enough. We waited for the tendering process, the tendering process started and finished and we are still in the same situation.”
Dr. Beatriz Thompson, BMDU
“How they explained about instruments we have in the operating theatre, I am an anaesthesiologist, I work with them everyday. I don’t use those instruments, I have my own ones that came with me from Mexico so I don’t use those things. But the way they explain what these rusty instruments, how these rusty instruments are still persistent in our operating theatre and say they have a lifespan etc, if they have a lifespan how come we haven’t changed it yet. Even if they were from the previous administration, we have had one year already with them so they should have changed it already.
And if they are saying that they are Central Medical Supplies how come they haven’t gotten to the operating theatre at KHMH. And if they are saying it was because no requests were made then I don’t think that is true because the head nurse every month sends operating requests so why is that that request can’t be filled out yet. So to me that is quite misleading to the public that they are doing so much and maybe they are doing so much but maybe where they are prioritizing is not where it should be. Where you throw down a floor for the CEO when comes into office, is that a priority when you don’t instruments to work, when you don’t have sutures is that a priority.”
Jules Vasquez,
You’re talking about the hardwood floor in his office.
Dr. Beatriz Thompson,
“That’s right. That came in and his wooden furniture and all that sort of thing. Is that a priority for the hospital, is that a priority for the patients? That is not a priority for the patient. The patient didn’t gain any benefit out of that. But the patient right now still doesn’t have aspirin, the patient still doesn’t have a good suture, so that when they come to the hospital they get sewed up very well and they don’t burst open the wounds again. You want the patient to be first, not the administration.”
Jules Vasquez,
Are you satisfied with Dr. Fabro’s answer that yes his wife’s company received a contract last year and it is not receiving it this year, story done? At least that is how he is telling it.
Dr. John Sosa,
“Originally the contract was $77,000, material provided was of poor quality, the doctors complained and they still increased it to $700,000 in spite of the poor quality material that never did work. It was $700,000 wasted. When you buy from Central Supplies, where does the majority of your supplies go, KHMH. Where does money go from Central Supplies? KHMH. Is that not a conflict of interest? I want someone to answer me that.”
Jules Vasquez,
What will you all do next?
Dr. John Sosa,
“We have a process to follow. We have the Labour Commissioner meeting tomorrow as a group of union executives. Hopefully the one on Monday but the union reserves the right to decide what it has to do and we will not decide until we have a meeting with all our union members.”
Jules Vasquez,
We know the Essential Services Law, it pens you in very closely over what industrial action you all can take. Are you prepared to take rash and decisive action if it is called for?
Dr. John Sosa,
“Our union members will decide that. We cannot decide that at this time. There are three of us here, we discuss with our union members tomorrow morning and we will decide what action we will take.”
The Medical and Dental Union has set up a meeting with the Labour Commissioner tomorrow and we’ll keep you posted.
