Tsunami, 5. A Pandemic of Mismanagement.

Last fall, the regional president of Madrid, Isabel Ayuso, ordered the construction of a hospital specifically for Covid patients. She argued that Madrid needed a hospital that specialized in pandemics and other large emergencies, such as plane crashes. So, at a cost of 135 million euros (a tad more than the original 50 million that it was supposed to have cost), a warehouse was built.

Because that is what it is, a warehouse. It has different sections that are compartmentalized, but most of them are open to the roof, high up in the distance. There are no operating theaters, no laundry, no kitchen. If a Covid patient needs emergency surgery for anything else, they have to be sent elsewhere. Laundry and food come from outside, private contractors, chosen by Ayuso, rather than picking the best offer. There have been complaints about food, with patients uploading to Twitter pictures of dishes that even my cats would turn their noses up at; strange looking broth, a tired tortilla on a bed of unidentifiable cubed and fried vegetables, plain white rice, a hamburger steak that looks like it's lived a couple of years in a freezer, something that might be a slice of ham, and even a plate of stew with mold growing on top. Other times, patients have gone from breakfast (small coffee with an industrial muffin) to supper, without any other food.

Then, there are blackouts. I assume there are back-up generators, otherwise, it would be difficult to supply oxygen to those that needed it. Patients have complained of having to shower in cold water because the hot water doesn't exist. Cleaners don't come by every day, and bins are full to overflowing. The temperature is not the ideal one for patients, either, who have to wear their clothing over the hospital pyjama to keep warm. 

From the beginning, health personnel have refused to be transferred there. Because, aside from all other deficiencies, no new workers have been hired to attend to patients there. Already, in the rest of the Madrid hospitals, there is a dearth of doctors and nurses. Each hospital needs the personnel it already has, and more. But, they have been transferred to the new pandemic hospital. Doctors and nurses who have refused to go to the Zendal have not had their contract renewed, despite the dire need for them in the region. Cutting off your nose to spite your face, much?

Understandably, when a patient is told they will be transferred to the Zendal , they refuse to go. Many are threatened; either they accept the transfer or they go home. This week, the manager of one of Madrid's hospitals complained about those patients. Seeing that they tended to refuse being transferred after talking with their families on the phone, she argued, "¿Por qué tienen que tener un móvil? Pues se prohiben los teléfonos, no se deja llamar a la familia." (Why do they need a cell phone? Well, prohibit cell phones, don't let them call their families.) 

Apart from the fact that these patients are not prisoners, it's illegal to take away their phones. And, since family can't visit, that's the only connection they have with loved ones. The whole idea of a hospital dedicated only to a pandemic, or other emergencies that happen once in a blue moon, has been ludicrous from the start. All the money sunk into that warehouse could have been sunk into habilitating existing facilities, and hiring more personnel. Some hospitals have entire floors closed because of budget cuts. 

But Ayuso has a bit of trumpism in her. She has to do things better, bigger. Her policies always tend to favor corporations and wealthy friends and CEO's. She prefers to lift restrictions, rather than keep people at home. When she does apply perimeter closings, it's by health center areas, which, in a city like Madrid, means that one side of a street has unlimited movement, while the other doesn't. It's ridiculous, and hasn't functioned very well. Her decision to build the Zendal pandemic hospital stemmed more from illusions of grandeur, and because it was a better way to give handouts to her friends in business. Now, she has to make it work any which way she can, to show the world she was right.

Others in her conservative PP party have disavowed her example. Our regional president, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, is doing the opposite of her, locking down people within their townships, and limiting hostelry and business hours of non-essential establishments. Not that his policies are all correct, with his emphasis on contracting out basic services to private companies, but at least he's doing some things better than others, such as Ayuso. 

Cronyism is a Spanish disease that I fear will never disappear as long as there is a Spain.

Life continues.