Specialists will suspend services they provide to Metrosalud for non-payment

01:44 PM

Three associations of medical specialists denounced this Thursday that will stop providing their services to the Metrosalud network after not having reached an agreement with the Mayor’s Office to settle a millionaire debt which has been growing since last year.

In a statement that was signed by the organizations Anesthesiar, which brings together anesthesiologists; SOGOS, which brings together obstetricians and gynecologists; and TOA, which brings together orthopedists, these specialists warned that They will provide their services until June 5 at 7:00 p.m.

Esteban Bustamante Estrada, spokesman for these associations, pointed out that since last year the specialists have been seeking by all means that the Mayor’s Office and the entity settle the debt, but After half a year of not receiving payments, the situation became untenable.

“These are professional groups that have been contracting specialized services with Metrosalud for more than 10 years. Since last year we have had a very serious delinquency situation. Because it is the vulnerable population of Medellín, the specialists had decided to continue working, but the time came when six months without pay are compromising the payroll and social security,” said the medical leader, warning that After a decade of relations with the entity, it is the first time that they have seen themselves in a situation of this type.

In round calculations, Bustamante pointed out that the debt with these three unions amounts to about $2 billionwhich has been accumulating since October 2022.

In his opinion, the situation is not only unprecedented due to the long period of time that the debt covers, but also because it occurs in a city with the budgetary capacity of Medellín.

“All instances and the regular channel have been exhausted and there are definitely no payments. We are very sorry about the situation, because we know that this is going to affect the population, but without pay and without social security, no one can work”, he expressed.

According to Bustamante, although the three unions continue to be open to dialogue with both the Metrosalud management and the Medellín Ministry of Health, their main request is that a substantive and not a partial solution be reached.

This newspaper consulted Metrosalud for its version of the statement published by the specialists, but up to the time of publication of this article the entity had not made a statement.