Given the situation of scrapping over the years of Bonsucesso Federal Hospital (HFB), the Ministry of Health chose Grupo Hospitalar Conceição (GHC), a state-owned company in Rio Grande do Sul, to manage the unit in the north of Rio de Janeiro.
In addition to expanding the workforce, the HFB complex needs infrastructure work; resumption of emergency service; reopening of 210 beds that are closed due to lack of equipment and staff, as well as the ICUs and surgical center; and works on the electrical and hydraulic systems.
The solution to these problems has been the responsibility of GHC since Tuesday (15), when the Ministry of Health began the transfer of management. The department and the new manager expect to complete this transition process in 90 days, a period in which the emergency service is expected to reopen and the progressive delivery of common and ICU beds and the Surgical Center to resume operation.
According to the Ministry of Health, one of the factors for choosing the new manager is the fact that GHC is “a public company linked to the federal government, with national operations and which fully serves the Unified Health System (SUS)”.
For Minister Nísia Trindade, the GHC has already shown itself as a reference in serving the population, including when it helped the ministry in missions in Haiti, in the Yanomami territory and in confronting the serious climate crisis in Rio Grande do Sul.
“As it is linked to the Ministry of Health, GHC is a central point for our quality work. This is the reason for GHC: a hospital of excellence that will contribute in a fundamental way to Rio de Janeiro. We are bringing the best we have in hospital management in Brazil”, guaranteed Nísia in a text released by the MS.
The CEO of GHC, Gilberto Barichello, said that to resume service in these interrupted services, emergency measures are necessary:
“We need to replace all the cabling in the electricity substation, because today it does not have enough capacity to incorporate new technologies or to reopen the hospital. We have already taken these measures and the cabling has already started to be replaced and there is a deadline of November 16th for the company to deliver all the replacement cabling in the substation that carries energy to the various buildings,” he revealed in an interview with Agência Brasil.
Another necessary work is replacing the roof of part of the hospital, which is damaged and prevents the operation of, for example, 24 short-stay beds that are closed due to leaks:
“The roof is completely holey, there are old ceramic tiles supported by wood damaged by termites. The tiles are broken and the roof has holes and the beds are closed. We will urgently bid for exemption so that we can change the roof and return these short-stay beds within 90 days. From now on, everything is up to Grupo Conceição”, said Barichello.
GHC
The group is an organization with over 64 years of experience in healthcare. It is made up of four hospitals and an oncology center. In addition to an Emergency Care Unit (UPA), it has another 12 Community Health Service health posts, three Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) and a Public Health Training School.
Linked to the Ministry of Health, GHC is recognized as the largest public hospital network in the South region, with 100% SUS service. The structure includes 1,391 beds, with hospitalizations for 46,100 users per year.
Around 4 million exams, 1.1 million consultations, 27 thousand surgeries and 6.6 thousand births are carried out each year. In total, the staff has 10,852 professionals who entered through a public competition.
Selection process
For the new management, Grupo Hospitalar Conceição can hire 2,252 health professionals in temporary positions of doctors, nurses, technicians and administrative staff. The selection process will prioritize professionals from Rio de Janeiro, with the aim of giving Bonsucesso Federal Hospital full capacity.
The notice that allowed the hiring was published this Friday 18th in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU). The simplified selection process is included in the actions to strengthen the administration defined by the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Health indicated that in this transition, federal employees will be able to choose to continue working at the hospital or request a transfer to other units in the network.
“The rights of civil servants, in accordance with the terms of the public tender or contract, will be preserved, there will be no change of regime. Employees will have a guaranteed and correct right to choose”, pointed out the ministry in a text published on its website.
According to the Deputy Secretary of Specialized Health Care, Nilton Pereira Júnior, temporary professionals who already work at HFB will be able to participate in the selection process and the deadlines of current contracts until November and December 2024 will be maintained.
According to Barichello, temporary hiring is for a period of 60 days, which can be extended for the same period. During this time, GHC will carry out a complete assessment of the size of the hospital unit to find out what the real need for vacancies is for the hospital to return to full operation.
After the analysis, which must be completed within 180 days, a public competition will be opened to definitively hire professionals. “In addition to replacing the cabling, changing the roof, hiring more than 2,200 professionals, we want everyone to be there working there in December in 45 days”, he added.
The president of GHC informed that current HFB workers are part of the statutory regime and their acquired rights will be guaranteed. Those from GHC also went through a public competition but are under the CLT regime and it is not possible to transpose the regime. However, temporary employees who already work at the hospital will be able to change through the selection process that has now been opened.
Re-registration
Within a period of ten days, current HFB statutory employees will be re-registered. “We need to know the workers who are there, what work shifts they have, what schedule, workload, what their profile and specialty are, so that we can reorganize the hospital to reopen with its full installed capacity,” said Barichello.
Another necessary measure is the acquisition of equipment. “To open all 210 closed beds, plus the emergency and surgical rooms, we need to acquire equipment, including a bed, multi-paramedic monitors, anesthesia cart… Anyway, to open in 90 days we need to complete the acquisition of equipment”, he noted . This analysis should be done in two or three days.
Reviews
Even announced by Ministry of Health On Tuesday the 15th, the GHC teams entered Bonsucesso Hospital only this Saturday the 19th after the action of federal police officers and military personnel authorized by the courts.
During this period, a group of employees organized by the Union of Workers in Health, Labor, Welfare and Social Assistance in the State of Rio de Janeiro (Sindsprev-/RJ) blocked the unit’s door and prevented the new management from entering the HFB.
Even with daily fines of R$50,000 determined by the Rio courts along with the unblocking order, the protesters remained at the site and promised to stay there until the conciliation hearing scheduled for next Monday 21st.
The Sindsprev-/RJ union leader, Christiane Gerardo, said that the protesters do not accept negotiating with the Ministry of Health or the GHC, because they do not agree with the transfer of management of the Bonsucesso Hospital.
“The solution is to keep public management linked directly to the Ministry of Health with respect to the decisions of the collegiate deliberative bodies and for them to hold a public competition for a permanent position. Other than that, there is no possibility of negotiating with these people, because we are water and they are wine. We don’t mix”, he pointed out in an interview with Brazil Agency.
Despite not being able to enter the HFB due to the blockade, teams from GHC/Bonsucesso began preparing to take on work in the unit by holding workshops at the MS headquarters in the center of Rio. The intention was to prepare the first 15 days in the process integration between Bonsucesso and GHC workers.
Management transfers
The protesters were also against what they called the slicing of federal hospitals operating in Rio de Janeiro, following the Ministry of Health’s decision to transition to new administrations chosen by the department.
The next one to have a transfer of management planned is that of the Hospital Federal do Andaraí, in the north of the capital, which will be managed by Rio City Hall. Due to the electoral period, the process could not move forward and will now be resumed.
The Hospital Federal dos Servidores, in the port region, will be managed by the Brazilian Hospital Services Company (Ebserh), linked to the MEC. The change of management at Hospital da Lagoa does not yet have a defined deadline.
According to the Ministry of Health, the HFB is a hospital complex with more than 42,242m² of built area. The location on Avenida Brasil, the main road in the State of Rio de Janeiro, connecting the city to others, mainly Baixada Fluminense, allows the unit to be a reference in medium and high complexity services for the entire population of Rio de Janeiro.
In 2020, a fire hit the HFB, and since then the precariousness has increased with the closure of the emergency room, common beds and ICU, in addition to the Surgical Center.
