President Gustavo Petro criticized Colombia's health system's contracting model, highlighting private clinics' high profits in 2024 while public hospitals face bankruptcy. In a post on social media platform X, the leader pointed out irregularities in resource allocation and ties to corruption networks.
Colombia's President Gustavo Petro voiced concerns about the health system's operations, zeroing in on the current contracting model. The critique stemmed from data on private clinics' financial performance in 2024, showing that 150 of them earned net profits of 5.22 trillion pesos.
In his X post, Petro stated: “150 private clinics obtained 5.22 trillion pesos in net profits in 2024”. The president argued that this contracting framework favors the private sector, allowing health resources to lead to the collapse of public hospitals rather than supporting them. “It is a contracting system where health resources let public hospitals go bankrupt first and foremost”, he wrote.
Furthermore, Petro alluded to problematic connections in the sector, noting that some private clinics have ties to owners of Health Promoting Entities (EPS) or corruption networks. These dynamics, according to the president, distort the system's operations and disproportionately benefit the private sector, while public health faces ongoing challenges.
The message ended with a pointed remark: “This is how they order the health system”. This statement fits into the context of reforms proposed by Petro's government to overhaul the health model, aiming for greater equity in resource distribution. No immediate responses from the mentioned entities have been reported, but the issue underscores persistent tensions in Colombia's healthcare sector.
