By The Star Staff
Sen. Keren Riquelme Cabrera on Tuesday proposed using the cooperative model to address the severe economic crisis facing several hospitals on the island, which has forced the dismissal of health workers at hospitals such as El Maestro in San Juan, Víctor Rojas in Arecibo, Doctor Pila in Ponce and the metropolitan hospitals in Cabo Rojo and San Germán, among others.
“There is no doubt that we must take action before the hospital network in Puerto Rico collapses,” Riquelme said. “Although we understand that many medical-hospital facilities are in good financial health, there are others that are not and with a population of older adults (65 years or older) that must exceed one million, it is urgent that we address this crisis. To do so, we will be calling a meeting with the island’s cooperative sector with the purpose of exploring the viability of creating cooperative platforms to provide medical-hospital services.”
The New Progressive Party senator said there are multiple examples of hospital medical service cooperatives in the States, such as the 360 Physical Therapy Clinic in the state of Vermont, which serves a population of around 160,000 and has been in operation for 14 years.
Other examples include the Rural Hospital Cooperative in Wisconsin, which runs 28 hospitals and has operated successfully since its inception in 1979.
“This is a model that has worked very well in the States,” Riquelme reiterated. “The first cooperative hospital was founded in 1929 in the state of Oklahoma and since then, most of the 50 states have cooperative hospitals. We will be calling the Cooperatives League of Puerto Rico, as well as leaders of that sector, including the Cooperative Development Commission of Puerto Rico, among others, to discuss together how this type of model can be implemented on a larger scale on the island. This meeting will be urgent given the reality of the hospital system we have.”
Earlier this year, Riquelme proposed the creation of a “Hospital Examiner,” a “czar” figure with the power in law to enter into disputes, including making periodic referrals to the Department of Justice, among others, such as those associated with delays in the payment of medical service bills by insurance companies.
Today there are around 70 hospitals operating in Puerto Rico, in addition to dozens of primary health centers known as 330 Centers, as well as diagnostic and treatment centers in the municipalities.
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