Rio de Janeiro City Hall is removing equipment from a decommissioned hospital for use in the municipal healthcare system. The reason is the fight against the coronavirus.
Last Thursday (2), Rio City Hall adopted a measure never seen before to face the fight against the coronavirus: it removed medical equipment from a deactivated private hospital to use them in the city's health network. The Hospital was the Espanhol, in the city center, which is stopped and was offered to the City Hall in exchange for a rent.
The “Blog do Edimilson Ávila” was the one who anticipated the information.
However, technicians assessed the structure and concluded that it was unsanitary. Therefore, the state government requested only the equipment, which the owners refused. Therefore, the municipality decided to take the property and pay for it later—in the event of damage.
In legal circles, this measure is called an "administrative requisition" and is provided for in municipal, state, and federal public calamity decrees. Private assets may be seized and used by the state when necessary, with possible subsequent compensation.
Situation during the pandemic
The opinion signed by Arícia Fernandes Correia, chief prosecutor of Rio's administrative prosecutor's office, states that there are doubts about whether "there will be enough equipment for everyone" amid the current pandemic, which would justify the measures taken. "It's a rare hypothesis—especially because it's the only one in history to experience a pandemic of this magnitude," Arícia states in the document.
The chief prosecutor also says that the hospital's refusal to provide the equipment is unjustifiable: "Since there is empirical evidence of what could happen to those affected by the disease if the public network does not have the infrastructure and equipment capable of caring for its patients."
In an inventory, the city hall requested: 90 beds; 9 respirators (6 in good condition) and 15 multiparameter monitors.
Ronaldo Gazolla Hospital and the Rio Centro Field Hospital will receive the most severe cases of COVID-19 infection and will thus receive the first machines and supplies. Other equipment at the Hospital Espanhol is under evaluation.
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