A problem that has been going on for years, the precariousness of health care for state employees has a new aggravating factor in Foz do Iguaçu. APP-Union/Foz is receiving numerous complaints and reports from educators seeking care at Cataratas Hospital, accredited to Health Care System (SAS), of the State Government.
Reports are of delays in scheduling medical evaluations and follow-ups, a lack of professionals, and the postponement and cancellation of consultations and other procedures such as surgeries. In view of so many challenges to the service, the union leadership is collecting, through its institutional channels, situations faced by teachers and school staff.
In one case, an educator has been trying to schedule and reschedule for three months in an attempt to get treatment for a total rupture of two tendons. Now, on the eve of the appointment, Cataratas Hospital announced a new cancellation and stated that it will only have vacancies in 2023. The employee has been suffering from pain for the last five months.
“We are receiving many complaints and they have continued to increase significantly in recent days,” explains the president of APP-Union/Foz, Janete Batista. “We are asking about the service, and the reports appear. Cancellation and postponement of appointments, in addition to the lack of specialists, dominate the many complaints”, she reveals.
The problems at SAS in Foz do Iguaçu, the region and the state are not new and have always been reported, Janete recalls. “We do not accept the argument that this precarious situation is due to the pandemic. We are exposed to a model that does not work, which causes suffering for the category due to the delay or total lack of service”, she states.
Most illnesses contracted by employees are work-related, that is, the result of working in schools, which includes stress. “Getting sick because of your job and not receiving minimally adequate treatment is cruel to educators,” concludes Janete Batista.
Reports from educators seeking assistance in Foz do Iguaçu
Restricted services
The APP/Union management sought answers and solutions. Cataratas Hospital said that it had been instructed by the State Health Department (Sesa) to cancel all services and that it has not received payment of the funds allocated to SAS since September. According to the hospital, it only provides general practitioner, gynecologist and pediatric consultations, as well as emergency procedures and basic exams. The union contacted Sesa, but has not received a response to date.
For Ari Jarczewski, Secretary-General of APP-Sindicato/Foz, the underlying problem is the withdrawal of civil servants’ rights imposed by the government of Ratinho Junior (PSD). “There are attacks from all sides, such as the privatization of education and, in this case, the attempt to take away our health care, which is essential,” the professor denounces.
(APP-Union/Foz)
Other side
The Director General of Cataratas Hospital, Ramon João Correa, stated that the Government of Paraná maintains the health service in the form of a benefit to employees, at no cost. According to him, it is not a “health plan” and the category must “adapt to the contract”, which has clauses that separate primary and secondary care.
According to the hospital manager, primary care and consultations are scheduled between 20 and 30 days in advance for some specialties, including cardiology, obstetrics and general medicine. Scheduling secondary procedures, he said, “depends on hiring professionals” and the time frame for scheduling is longer.
Thus, in the case of elective surgeries, this period is up to 90 days. In recent months, according to Ramon João Correa, the state government issued a decree decentralizing services. This would have caused a delay in payment for services to the hospital in September and October, causing delays in specialties, “because the hiring of professionals needs to be paid, in most cases, in cash,” he stated.
According to him, the hospital “remains open and serves most specialties, including surgery.” Ramon João Correa explained that, in a verbal conversation, the government had promised to make the pending payments next week, which would make it possible to bring the services up to date.
