The 565 assets of Barros Luco Trudeau Modular Field Hospital No. 2, purchased during the covid-19 pandemic, have spent four years unused in a San Miguel warehouse, according to BioBioChile. The outlet obtained a report from the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic that puts the loss at $859 million.
The Comptroller General's Office is the autonomous body that oversees the use of public resources and the legality of state administration actions. It is currently headed by Dorothy Pérez.
On April 6, 2020, the Undersecretariat for Healthcare Networks approved the urgent procurement of modular field hospitals to increase the number of available beds. The Ministry of Health signed an agreement with Weatherhaven Global Resources to purchase five hospitals with capacity for 100 people each, for 13.7 million dollars, approximately 9,718 million pesos.
One of them arrived at Barros Luco Trudeau Hospital. Including acquisition and transport, that unit cost 2,102 million pesos. By June 2020, it was operating on a soccer field adjoining the hospital grounds.
The modular hospital operated until October 31, 2021. The following month, the undersecretariat transferred it free of charge to the Southern Metropolitan Health Service (SSMS), which became the owner of all its rights and interests.
The then director of SSMS, Carmen Aravena, reported that there was no planned use for the facilities in the near term. She cited high transport costs and logistical problems caused by the size of the components. According to the service, the options were limited to dismantling and storage, or transfer to another institution.
On May 11, 2023, a tender was approved to maintain, dismantle and pack the structure. Minera y Constructora Río Grande SpA won the contract for more than $187 million. The company moved the assets to the San Miguel warehouse, fenced off the site and placed them on pallets.
Hospital beds, overbed tables, shelving, stretchers, washbasins and wheelchairs remained there. When questioned by the Comptroller General's Office, SSMS acknowledged that it "did not undertake any efforts, inquiries or communications" to determine their use, reassignment or transfer to other public bodies.
The oversight body concluded that the legal obligation to manage public resources efficiently had been breached. It also warned of the risk of deterioration and depreciation of the assets, which could have been used for healthcare or public interest purposes.
SSMS responded that the dismantling followed the end of the health alert and that keeping the hospital operational cost $4,584 million. It explained that it chose to store it as a strategic reserve for future emergencies or disasters. The Comptroller General's Office accepted those operational reasons but maintained that they did not justify the lack of efforts to transfer it.
The report also identified differences between the inventory dated March 17, 2021, and the one from 2026. The available BioBioChile text does not specify the details of those differences or the concrete actions the Comptroller General's Office will initiate.
