Red Cross With No Money For Gasoline
The daily newspaper La Nación reports that the Cruz Roja (Red Cross) is in the red and some detachments, like the Cruz Roja de Barranca de Puntarenas, doesn't have money to buy gasoline.

That detachment owes the local gasoline station some ¢3 million colones (us$5.825) and has no more credit.

According to the detachment, it is owed some ¢8 million colones from the hospitals Monseñor Sanabria (Puntarenas) and México (San José) for the transfer of patients, which it has not been able to collect.

For the meantime, the Cruz Roja detachment will only attend emergencies in Barranca, the heaviest populated community in Puntarenas, with 30.000 residents.

The cases is not unique. The Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS) - the social security system that operates the public hospitals - owes the Cruz Roja ¢420 million colones (us$815.500) for patient transfer services. The CCSS contracts some 500 Cruz Roja ambulances around the country to move patients from one hospital centre to another and/or to clinics and outsourced specialty services.

The CCSS moves on average some 1.100 patients per day. The Puntarenas hospital accounts for 50 patient movements a day.

Each year the CCSS keeps on adding to the Cruz Roja tab, said Ingrid Camacho, a sub-director of the Cruz Roja. In addition, Camacho, said that the rate the CCSS has established - ¢190 colones (us$0.37) per kilometre - is not enough to cover costs.

According to Luis Ruiz of the Cañas Cruz Roja, they too are in a bind, not having sufficient funds to purchase gasoline and latex gloves. In Esparza, according to Wilkie González, administrator for that detachment, they are at the credit limit for gasoline, having maybe two weeks worth of purchases at best.

Jorge Noriega de Valle, administrative director at the Monseñor Sanabria, said that the hospital's budget for patient transfers has been used up and the hospital has no choice but to run up a debt with the Cruz Roja. Noriega added that the hospital has begun the process of getting more funding to pay outstanding invoices. NOriega added that the situation became critical as the demand for patient transfers exceeded their forecasts.

Jorge Pizarro, administrator at the Hospital México, said basically the same thing, adding that the high number of patients sent to the México from different areas doesn't allow them to forecast the transfer requirements.

In the midst of all the rhetoric, Hermes MOra, administrator for the Barranca Cruz Roja detachment, hopes that the hospitals pay up soon so that they can purchase gasoline for their units. "The owner of the gasoline station is an excellent person. The problem is that he can no longer bear the financial burden as he needs money to fill his tanks, which we understand", said Mora.