Cash-strapped Rio de Janeiro Hospitals Turn Away Patients, Shut Doors, Prompting Healthcare Crisis in Brazilian City
State governor declares ‘state of emergency’ and asks central government for aid to get healthcare facilities reopened in city that will host 2016 Summer Olympics
As U.S. healthcare officials look to contain the spiraling cost of care in this country, government leaders in Brazil are facing an unprecedented healthcare crisis that has caused cash-strapped public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro to close their doors or limit services due to lack of funds.
No News Coverage about Brazil’s Medical Laboratories
Clinical laboratory executives and pathologists should take note of this unfolding story. It may be without precedent that public hospitals in the capital city of one of the world’s faster-growing economies have had to cease medical services because there is no money to pay physicians and staff and buy the necessary medical supplies.
Luiz Fernando Pezão, the current State Governor of Rio de Janeiro, on Dec. 23, 2015, declared a “state of emergency” after as many as 15 outpatient clinics closed and hospitals began limiting their admissions to those with life-threatening conditions. (more…)
