Hospital fired in Brasilândia protest against SP city hall

Employees fired from the Brasilândia Municipal Hospital – Adib Jatene, in the north of São Paulo, protested this Thursday afternoon (18) in front of the city hall building, on the Chá overpass, in the central region of the capital.

They complain about not releasing the termination documents so that they can file for unemployment insurance and the FGTS (Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Serviço).

On August 1, the hospital’s 1,360 workers — including doctors, nurses and technicians — were laid off due to a change in the social organization that runs the unit.

According to the Municipal Health Department, on July 16, the OSS (Social Health Organization) Iabas (Institute of Basic and Advanced Care) was replaced by the Associação Saúde em Movimento. About two weeks later, the layoffs occurred.

In a note, the secretariat says that the terminations, “whose obligation is the responsibility of Iabas”, are being analyzed by the legal department, which seeks to mediate this approval with the unions of the categories.

Also in a note, Iabas states that it is up to the municipal secretariat to inform the forecast of payment of severance pay for these employees, “since the portfolio is responsible for releasing the financial resources”.

Ana Lúcia Firmino, director of the Sindicato dos Enfermeiros e Enfermeiras do Estado de São Paulo, said that after the protest on Thursday afternoon, the second in the week, the secretariat committed to releasing documentation next Tuesday (23) to be analyzed by the unions so that the dismissed can apply for unemployment insurance and the FGTS.

Firmino says that the dismissed employees were not rehired by the new social organization, as is usually the case in other management exchanges.

She also says that the workforce has been reduced because of the halving of the number of beds in the public hospital, opened during the pandemic and which was a reference in the treatment of Covid-19 in the city.

“These are people who worked hard in the pandemic, at a time when there was no vaccine”, says the director of the union.

In the note, Iabas says that “it strictly complied with the determinations of the Municipal Health Department, among them that there would be no subrogation [recontratação pela nova organização social] of the 1,362 employees and, therefore, should be fired”.

The city hall, however, says that the new OSS started to select and admit in its professional staff that provided services to the previous manager. “To date, 669 employees have been hired. According to the organization, the forecast is that a total of 800 employees will be absorbed”, says the note from the management Ricardo Nunes (MDB).

Sought by email and by phone to talk about the hiring, the Associação Saúde em Movimento did not respond until the publication of this report.

The Municipal Health Department says that the new social health organization took over the hospital’s activities with the opening of the emergency room and a new configuration of beds.

In the new configuration, the secretariat confirms the reduction of structure. According to the ministry, the contract with the new social organization, worth R$ 12 million per month, establishes the management of 204 beds, divided between intensive care for adults and pediatrics, pediatric ward, surgical ward, medical clinic, observation, emergency and operating rooms. (two for urgency and emergency).

The secretariat says that in the most critical stages of the pandemic, 406 beds were made available, 188 of them in the ICU.

On July 27, Nunes visited the hospital, when the emergency room started to open doors. During the visit, it was reported that the forecast is that about 16,000 patients will be treated per month in the PS unit, which should benefit 2.2 million residents of the north of the capital.

The mayor said that the municipal administration, in partnership with the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank), invested R$ 275 million in the construction and implementation of the hospital.