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Alajuela Hospital Staff
Incensed
Authorities at the Alajuela
Hospital are incensed at the
remarks made by executives of
the Spanish consortium, Obrascón
Huarte Laín (OHL), that build
the hospital when it was
insinuated that the staff at the
hospital doesn't know how to use
the new equipment.
The kitchen equipment has
failed. The kitchen staff at the
hospital have had to resort to
the old pots and pans to prepare
the daily meals. The new rice
cooker was burning or
overcooking the rice, the soup
warmer boils instead.
These are just some of the
complaints of the staff at the
new hospital after the Caja
Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS)
spend some us$40 million dollars
in a contract awarded to the
Spanish company to build it.
OHL executives who fled the
country short after arriving,
fearing their detention, in a
press conference a week ago
insinuated that the hospital
staff have not been adequately
trained. The hospital director
vehemently defends the training
of his staff of 700.
But the problems are not just in
the kitchen. Air conditioners
don't work. Doors jam or don't
open properly. Medical equipment
has failed to function and
requires repair, are just some
of the complaints by a staff who
is trying to keep the hospital
running normally.
Last Thursday, officials of the
Fiscalía de Delitos Económicos
raided the offices of OHL and
detained the managing director,
Hernaldo Lazo, who will be
sitting out the next three
months in jail after a court
dictated preventive measures
against him.
Israel Moya, a manager at the
CCSS was also given the same
preventive measures for his role
in what is suspected to be a
case of corruption.
President Pacheco has said that
he will personally contact his
counterpart in Spain to discuss
the situation. He is upset that
after all the planning and
spending a huge amount of the
money, Costa Ricans didn't get
what they had bargained for.
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