Strike Continues At Majority Of The Ebais Clinics

Workers of 34 of the 45 Equipos Básicos de Atención Integral en Salud (Ebais) –  Basic Equipment Comprehensive Health Care operated by the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR) continue their strike and the panorama is not encouraging. The 220 workers of the Ebais went on strike last Monday, November 11. The vice-president of the social action of the UCR, Roberto Salom, said there are no new developments since the strike began  and the university is looking to solve the conflict and for the strike to be lifted. He added that there is a great responsibility to the communities waiting for service. The Ebais are clinics set up by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS or Caja) – Social Security – and contracted out to private operators. The Ebais provide medical services not requiring hospital services and are move convenient, given their location in communities close to poorer patients. The workers are protesting a plan to place the clinics in the hands of a private university management, the Universidad de Iberoamérica (Unibe), rather than maintained under the present administration by the public university. In addition, up to nine Ebais clinics would be closed. The CCSS has enabled a guide for patients  where they can phone 2539 0327 and email consfarm@ccss.sa.cr to get information on how and where to get their medication. According to the latest report by the CCSS, 11 of the 45 Ebais were operating normally. CCSS medical director, Maria Eugenia Villalta, called on chronic patients not to stay home and visit the Ebais open to get their prescriptions. Villalta stressed that the CCSS is not privatizing the Ebais’ and that the process of awarding the administration contract to the Universidad de Iberoamérica (Unibe) to run the 39 Ebais across the country, was made through a public tender.