Córdoba puts out to tender a multimillion sum for private security in all its public hospitals
Hospital de Clínicas of Córdoba
porEditorial Team
Argentina
The province launched a $20.65 billion auction to replace police custody with surveillance services
The Official Gazette formalized the call for a public auction to hire private security companies for surveillance in local healthcare facilities. The initiative seeks to cover the security of the buildings under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health both in the capital city and throughout the interior. This annual contract involves an investment that exceeds 20.65 billion pesos to guarantee order and the protection of admitted patients.
The new system will be implemented in 42 provincial public hospitals that currently have the presence of local police officers. This way, private security personnel will replace the officers who were providing services under the modality of paid additional hours. The budget allocated to maintain this comprehensive security service represents an approximate expense of 60 million pesos for each day of implementation.
This transition toward a comprehensive private security scheme marks a deep change in the administration of the provincial State's resources. The administrative decision modifies the scheme in force until now, where the public security force exercised full control over the entrances. This restructuring of the service is expected to make it possible to optimize the management of the human resources available within the public health system.
El cambio de modalidad generó diversas reacciones internas en la Policía de Córdoba
Impact on the force and upcoming deadlines
The change in modality caused various internal reactions within the Córdoba Police due to the weight that additional hours have in the monthly salary. Many officers depend on these extra hours to complete their annual income, so the replacement is generating uncertainty in the active sector. The authorities did not specify whether the measure responds to a need to reassign uniformed officers to preventive patrol duties on the streets.
From an operational standpoint, the tender seeks to centralize hospital surveillance under a single command of specialized companies in the sector. The public auction will make it possible to select the firms that offer the best technical and economic conditions to guard the healthcare centers. The administrative process is continuing its legal course and the bids submitted by interested parties are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
Once the selection stage is completed, the final deadlines will be announced for the implementation of the new control in the 42 hospitals. The concrete impact of this scheme will be reflected in the daily reorganization of public hospitals both in the capital and in the interior. This administrative step represents one of the most significant economic moves by the public sector with regard to outsourced services.
