The precarious situation in a sector essential for hospital operations was exposed by the president of the Social Security Institute (IPS), Isaías Fretes. He reported that laundry workers are forced to carry water in buckets to continue with daily tasks of cleaning and disinfecting hospital linens.
According to Fretes, next to the laundry there is a bathroom that was being renovated by a contracted company. However, the firm allegedly interrupted the water supply about two months ago and then abandoned the work, leaving the sector without normal access to basic service.
The president of the IPS lamented that a fundamental area for preventing hospital infections is in such deficient conditions. He highlighted that the hospital hygiene process begins precisely in the laundry and considered the historical lack of attention to the sector concerning.
In addition to the water problem, there is the poor state of industrial equipment. Fretes indicated that, of the five available industrial washing machines, two have been out of operation for three years, which considerably limits the operational capacity of the service.
In light of this, the head of the IPS proposed implementing a leasing system for the acquisition and maintenance of the machines. He explained that, through this mechanism, supplier companies would have to replace damaged equipment and renew the machines every five years, avoiding high costs and long periods of inactivity.
“When the machine breaks down, it needs to be replaced, and when five years are up, it is replaced again. This will avoid a huge expense,” said Fretes, referring to the proposal that seeks to modernize the equipment and ensure service continuity.