In a clear exercise of political persecution, the national government relieved the director of the Maldonado Blood Center, Jorge Curbelo, from office, based on a confidential report from ASSE that denounces an alleged “parallel and arbitrary administration”. However, the reality that Maldonenses know is diametrically opposed: with a notoriously limited budget, Curbelo carried out excellent management that turned the Blood Center into a national reference center, efficient and effective at the service of the population
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Under scarce resources and without the budgetary support that a service of this magnitude deserved, Jorge Curbelo achieved what few public directors have achieved in the country: a modern, orderly and functional blood center. In a department with sustained population growth and an increasing demand for blood products for surgeries, oncology treatments, emergencies and obstetrics, the center not only maintained the supply, but raised it to quality standards that were previously exceptional. Voluntary donations at record levels, permanent stock, agile processes and decent and timely care became the norm. All this, I insist, with a budget that, compared to other centers of the system, was clearly insufficient
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The entire population of Maldonado knows this. Doctors, families, regular donors and patients who required transfusions in a timely manner have no doubts about this: the Blood Center run by Curbelo operated efficiently and seriously. There were no complaints of shortages, unjustified delays, or scandals of any kind. Maldonado became, under his management, a regional example of how more can be done with less when there is management capacity, honesty and real commitment
to public health.
However, the national government of Yamandú Orsi and its officials in ASSE decided that such success could not be tolerated. Instead of recognizing the effort and strengthening a service that worked, they chose to dismantle it. The confidential report that is now used as a basis mentions “irregular management of human resources”, “problems in financial management”, “budgetary overdraft” and “extra-regional operations”. But behind these technical terms, the real intention can be seen: to use health as a tool of political control and to punish those who demonstrated that it is possible to manage efficiently even when the central State does not provide the necessary resources
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Curbelo did not accept the position because of bankruptcy, it is argued. And how important is that compared to the concrete results that citizens were able to verify day by day? There is talk of financial overdraft, but how could there be no budgetary pressure if the center expanded its benefits while the budget remained stagnant? The association with private and alcohol brands for additional resources is criticized, as if seeking additional funding to save lives were a crime when the national government does not meet real needs
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The conclusion of the report - which speaks of “lack of access due to bankruptcy”, “detachment from contracting rules” and “association of the image of ASSE with private providers” - does not stand up against the perception of the people of Maldonado. What is being sought is to destroy a blood center that operated in an exemplary way to replace it with politicized, bureaucratic and inefficient management, in accordance with the model that the Broad Front has imposed on a large part of the public health
system.
Jorge Curbelo doesn't deserve to be removed. He deserves to be publicly recognized for his work and to be provided with the necessary resources to continue. The population of Maldonado, which is the one that really matters, has already issued its verdict: the Blood Center that he directed was an example of good administration in times of restrictions. The fact that the national government is trying to destroy it only confirms that, for the ruling party, political control prevails over the health of Uruguayans
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