Brazil’s TCU orders military hospitals to offer free beds to civilians in crisis situations

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The TCU (Federal Audit Court) has ruled that the Armed Forces should assign vacant clinical and ICU beds in military hospitals to civilians served by the SUS (National Health System), in cases of system collapse.

The administrative court has investigated potential irregularities in the Ministry of Defense and in the Air Force, Army and Navy commands for failing to provide civilians with available beds in military health care units during the Covid-19 pandemic.

These units are part of the government administration, are funded with  federal resources and use federal government facilities.

The court ordered the Ministry of Health, the Chief of Staff and the Ministry of Defense to adopt measures whenever the health system of a given locality collapses due to excess demand.

According the Court, if health services are available in military units, there is no reason not to add these services to the others offered by the SUS with the aim of preserving lives.

The TCU also advised that the bodies provide data on a daily basis for each of their health centers, with a breakdown of the total number of clinical and ICU beds, as well as the occupancy rates of each.

A document sent by the Ministry of Defense to the Senate Covid CPI (investigative committee) showed that after requests from states and municipalities, the Armed Forces denied sharing ward and ICU beds with civilians, although there are vacancies in military hospitals

The document is signed by Minister Walter Braga Netto. Requests were made by the Federal District, the states of Rio Grande do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, and Amazonas, as well as the city of Xanxerê, in Santa Catarina state.

The portfolio did not detail when the state governments requested the beds, but the spreadsheets delivered to the CPI show that there were vacant beds in several periods ranging from January to April this year.

These beds have been blocked, as they are designed to serve only military personnel and their relatives.

Source: Valor