AC Camargo received land from the government of SP with the condition of serving SUS

A state law published ten years ago made the donation of a 5,621 m² plot of land to Fundação Antonio Prudente, which maintains Hospital AC Camargo, conditional on maintaining permanent care for SUS patients, including highly complex procedures.

THE Sheet revealed this Monday that the hospital, with almost 70 years of history in São Paulo, will end SUS care from December, when the annual contract with the Municipal Health Department expires. The main reason is the lag of the public system table.

The state law, signed by the then governor Geraldo Alckmin (at the time in the PSDB, today in the PSB) and published on August 31, 2012, says in its article 3 that “the deed of alienation must contain clauses, terms and conditions that ensure the effective use of the property for the purpose for which it is intended”.

In case of non-compliance, “the contract will be terminated regardless of compensation for improvements made”, says the text of the law. The land is located at Rua Professor Antonio Prudente, 203, in Liberdade, central São Paulo.

In a statement, AC Camargo informs that the land donated by the state makes up the hospital complex, which has a total of 30,000 m².

In the institution’s understanding, the donation is conditioned to SUS care, but not necessarily through an agreement in the current mold, which provides comprehensive patient care.

“We are in talks to continue services to the SUS through other modalities and partnerships, including expanding the geographic scope”, says the note.

The hospital also informs that social responsibility is AC Camargo’s raison d’être, and its financial result is fully reinvested in the improvement of national oncology.

This improvement, according to the institution, occurs “through the training of professionals for the entire Brazilian territory, conducting research that brings solutions to make cancer care more efficient, more cost-effective and more accessible to all, in addition to directly caring for patients with innovative methodologies in the national scenario”.

Asked if the São Paulo government intends to enforce the text of the law, the State Department of Health did not respond.

In a note sent to Sheetthe secretariat reproduced the text of the law that conditions the donation to SUS care, said that the hospital has a contract for SUS care with the municipality of São Paulo and that the state ministry “expects that patients treated by SUS in AC Camargo have their assistance kept in the unit”.

Asked if the state intends to make some kind of agreement so that the SUS service is not interrupted, the secretary also did not respond.

At least 1,500 of the 6,500 SUS patients have already been transferred to other institutions linked to municipal management. Another 5,000 should be sent by the end of the year.

For entities that support cancer patients, the end of care at the AC may result in an increase in queues and a delay in cancer treatment. There are at least 3,000 people awaiting cancer care at the Cacons (High Complexity Assistance Centers in Oncology), regulated by the Cross platform (Health Services Regulation Center).

Opened on April 23, 1953, AC Camargo was the first hospital in the capital built with donations from the population and, over the years, in addition to cutting-edge care, it has become an international reference in teaching and research. The contract with the Municipal Health Department runs until December 9 this year.

In 2021, SUS revenue transferred to AC Camargo was BRL 36 million and the hospital had to inject another BRL 98.46 million, coming from private care, to close the accounts. The institution’s net revenue in 2021 was BRL 1.32 billion.

An example of the SUS table lag. The Ministry of Health pays R$ 10 for a medical consultation, while the health plans, on average, R$ 100. The values ​​of chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions reimbursed by the SUS are 94% and 71%, respectively, lower than those paid by health insurance plans. health.

In a note, the Municipal Health Department says that it has held meetings to assess the possibility of continuing care through the partnership.

The management emphasizes, however, that oncology care for patients in the municipal network will continue to be offered through other municipal service providers, such as Hospital Municipal Dr. Gilson de Cássia Marques Carvalho–Vila Santa Catarina, and other units regulated by the state government.

Asked about the lack of readjustments to the SUS table, the Ministry of Health says that “the table is not the main nor the only way of financing the SUS” and that “the values ​​are minimum references, and can be complemented by state and municipal managers , according to the demands and needs of each territory”.

In an interview with SheetVictor Piana de Andrade, CEO of AC Camargo Cancer Center, said that the hospital tried several alternatives before deciding to end care, including being part of Proadi, a federal government program to support the development of the SUS that has among its partners the Albert Einstein and Sírio-Libanês hospitals.

“We got a technical yes [do Ministério da Saúde] and a no of political decision. We tried a couple more times, we had very interesting projects, but we couldn’t. We understand that this door was closed,” said Andrade.

This Tuesday (23), federal deputy Alexandre Padilha (PT) sent a letter to the Ministry of Health requesting information about the end of SUS care at AC Camargo Hospital. Among the questions, he asks the reasons why the ministry refused that the institution be part of Proadi and asks the ministry to forward all technical manifestations related to this request.

Padilha also questions the initiatives and measures taken by the Ministry of Health to prevent AC Camargo from leaving the public health network.