Speech
Gustavo Petro  ·  2026-07-30 21:13

Recorrido del Presidente Gustavo Petro al Hospital San Juan de Dios - 30 de julio de 2026

But I want Pedro to answer a question for me here. Explain to me what the impediments have been that prevent us from attending to patients in the areas where services have already been restored. The lack of authorization, which the district has to provide, means that a resolution was issued by the ministry that streamlined the processes, saving us, for example, from the prior visit that always had to be done, and unfortunately the district has been delaying us with new requests and new petitions. The authorization is very close to being delivered; they have authorized one for me, and they are waiting for me to go to the presidency so they can say that they were the ones who did everything, after I have been fighting for the opening for exactly 28 years. That's really because we've complied with everything. The work, as you will see right now, is ready. The perfect basement, everything is ready. The mayor of Bogotá refused to allow the government to enable health services in the area, which is already capable of serving clients. There would be customers right now, wouldn't there? Patients. At this time there are patients who could be treated, because they can be treated with a piece of paper that the mayor has not allowed. That's how it is. Exactly. As president, it must be taken into account that when you were mayor you enabled it and here for 2 years the cancer center was located. More than 26,000 people from almost 20 departments were served here by our partner and also by the cancer institute that is right there with those 10,000 women for cancer detection who passed through here with what you left and today it is being prevented from being done again and that there is a court order, a court order from Judge 12 and why has there been no eviction? I will promptly renew the contempt of court order. My opinion is that it is a crime against the poor citizens of Bogota who lack resources, because even though people could see, settle in, and be served, the mayor doesn't allow it. However, they have not been able to control their function of monitoring the gaps where they ascend and leave the women to die . The superintendent is on top of that. The woman, like in a clinical aesthetic sauce, that's already been investigated by the ones who don't control that and don't let anyone into six outpatient clinics for the people on your first floor, she's entering with great pleasure. Well, here we're basically going to have specialized clinics, a mammography area, cardiology, vaccination, an administrative area, the area of... This was already repaired. Yes, it was repaired when this mayor's office had to get to the transport department because everything was in less time, but in less time than a year. This was in three months. This is the area that has already been enabled. Enabled. Let's take a look at this. This is what could already be used by patients from Bogotá, men and women, children, and it is not part of the structure, but of the emergency room of the Central Tower. It already has earthquake resistance, it has all the facilities to provide care, and the mayor didn't want to, uh, simply because I was the one who was going to open the first patient in these facilities, which should already be full of patients, and he didn't issue the health authorization. Come on. How are you? He is in the waiting room. He is in the waiting room. He is in the waiting room with you. Cristancho made a story, the story of San Juan David, the story of San Juan. Mr. President, as in all the previous 24 years, we wanted to have a special surprise for you, and that is that this piece, the original one that is in the photograph, specifically, was the one with which the San Juan de Dios Hospital was inaugurated on February 2, 2000, in 1926, commemorating Pu de los Barrios and Toledo, and now, with the permission of the sculptor's granddaughter and also with the heir of other classical sculptors, Pinto Maldonado, this space is being created which will precisely remember that this year the hospital is 100 years old in the Antonio Nariño district and 462 years of history. Yes, there are two different traditions, aren't there? Uh, here in this place called La Ortuga and it was the La Ortuga estate ceded by law of the Republic to the San Juan de Dios Hospital. Well, there's a century of activity here; practically all contemporary medical generations from the last century studied and did their internships here. They are among the best doctors and nurses in the world. It's been several generations now, several to death. My mom is here, uh, precisely because my mom in her youth, when she arrived in Bogotá [clears throat] and had the whole experience of the Yes, I came here a lot, but this is a story, this story is what makes you think that the hospital is private, buddy. This is what makes one think that the hospital is private, because supposedly this gentleman was the first bishop of Bogotá, the founder of the San Pedro Hospital that burned down, so it was because of this that César Turbaya, when he was president and saying that he was following the will of this bishop, handed over all the lands and riches, which is all the land of Bogotá, to real estate companies and left this hospital poor, which later President Andrés Pastrana closed with a rifle, brother, the army closed it. It has been closed ever since, and it has been the struggle of the workers and my efforts with other political leaders in Colombia and the justice system in many rulings that have prevented this tower from being dynamited because that was the order given by Mayor Peña Luz. For that purpose, he signed a contract with a Spanish company whose objective was to undermine the contracts. Uh, it's a mistake to think it's private, and the hospital workers proved it by finding the actual founding document. It was created by the king. No, he doesn't say that. Since it was created by the king, this hospital was always public and should never have been privatized. And if the hospital's status had been maintained as public, it would never have lost the wealth of saltpeter that others kept, that wealth donated to the hospital for the poor. Today we have the hospital is public, it is of district order because I bought it as mayor, however, as president I wanted it to open and become a national institution [clears throat] which is now entangled because the mayor now follows a position that is not to allow us to open it. I hope he changes his position. In 1913, a medical- architectural program was created for the entire La Ortuga hospital , which at that time would be Tenth Avenue and over there would be Caracias Avenue, that is, it exceeds those areas, and from that competition the first stone was laid at that time and later, after a somewhat long jump in time, we have one of the great advances. There was an epidemic, I think it was in 1817, and Bogotá was saved because it cared for the sick with the virus, a virus similar to COVID, the one at the time, and this hospital was the one that provided all the service to the city so that not so many people died. In this part, we have, let's say, one of the elements that were most outstanding at the time in modern architecture internationally, and that is the hospital tower and the surgical tower by Cuellar Serrano Gómez, which inaugurated modernity precisely in medicine with elements that at this time are even bioclimatic, that is, the management of what today we would call green hospitals. And it is at this moment that Colombian medicine begins to contribute its new forms to the international context and to architecture. Further on , here I would like to point out this is the central tower that is being restored to make it resistant, etc., and this is the area where we are. This smaller area at the top already has seismic resistance and is architecturally separate from the hospital, but it is a continuum. This used to be the emergency room, but here the emergency room is focused and this whole area that we have fixed, I have fixed it twice and put it into operation. The first time I left the mayor's office in Bogotá, as they say, I attended to 10,000 sick women who were being checked for cancer, as well as other cancer patients, but the Cancer Institute only had a short time, then they came back and destroyed everything because the hospital has an enemy called the Bogotá oligarchy. So, what they want is to privatize services in the north and prevent it from being the national and Latin American center of public health. The entire disease of healthcare privatization has made this hospital a victim of its workers. Most of them are already dead. We have recovered some who are now working. This service, which is available again, is the one that the mayor did not allow to be opened. When everything is ready, some misinforming voices say that you have no earthquake resistance. Of course he has it. It already functioned a few years ago; the important thing is precisely the contribution of the National University of Colombia to the San Juan de Dios Hospital. And within that framework, everything that has to do specifically with the scientific advances that occurred, not only kangaroo mother, Joquim's valve, Velasco's spatulas and countless procedures and practices that today are part of that cultural heritage through the 735, which is of an intangible nature, but which is what we have to offer to future generations. Mr. President, what was done at the beginning of the investigative process? Colombia has investigated health. The quality of Colombian doctors remains very important in the world. Many people come here to receive services and this is the famous hacking valve, which I also benefited from because of a blow I suffered in 2012, they had to put in not the valve, but rather the experiences of this research that began in this hospital with Salomato in 1957 in this same tower. These same developments began cardiovascular surgery with Dr. Alfonso Billilla Naar 58 construction of the pharyngeal sphincter 1960 first revascularization of extremities, hand winter by Dr. Fernando Gómez Rivas 63. The first three kidney transplants were performed here 1965. Also here there was the care of children, the maternal and child hospital which is in full restoration. That's going to be an architectural gem in the center, right here in front. This national government, which was born to... we had a difficulty that ended up ruining healthcare. Law 100 is to blame for the hospital's closure; later, with an army, they closed it. This is the first victim. This is the first victim of Law 100. The hospital ended up dying financially in '98. This whole story was thrown out the window because it occurred to a group of health businessmen who still control private healthcare and the EPS (Health Promoting Entities). And then they ended up closing, they didn't hire the hospital, they closed it, they went to hire, it was their clinics, they increased their assets. Today, an example of that increase in wealth is Keralti Colanitas, which used foreign money to finance congressmen so that we wouldn't reform Law 7. Here it is already declared, this was our struggle. Yes. Then it is declared by this law. I co- authored it with Senator María Isabel Marjía Mariejo and we turned it into a national monument to begin to stop them from tearing it down. After 2014, I, as mayor [laughs], was always fighting for this. So, acquiring the prizes was the property of the charity, 260 and some thousand million, sir, and it became the property of the district. I was thinking, as mayor, about opening it. All the obstacles began, radical change and trickery, brother, through the notary superintendency, they overturned our deeds, they made us waste time. That's why Corson couldn't finish it completely here, nor could he finish the mayoralty, but we managed to get it ready and suitable for use again. He brought it in on the last day at 5 pm. I left the mayor's office here at 5 pm. I didn't leave as vilified as I am now, but I did leave here. My economic crisis is already here. But we remained vigilant, rulings kept coming out in favor of the hospital, and as president we invested a total of 1,600,000 million pesos that remain as future commitments. We need to take care of ourselves. Hopefully to the citizens and nation. This already has a number of venues that are going to be very beautiful. The one from Cumaral de la Paz. The doctor is there. The doctor is there. So, for now, you have to do it. We're going to do it, but it has a design by the one or they say architect is the best architect in the world. Alejandro Araven has the money to do it, and it's for women who are victims of sexual violence by men. We already assigned the contract, Mr. President, and if I say the authorization, that's already my theory, the authorization is not from the voting mayor's office, it's national, it 's national, but so far we're going to do it , since we're not there yet. Who knows what governments will be in power at that time? It has to be national. We have, and I'm going to ask because yesterday the minister said this week that we have the Benconio ship, it needs IPS, it should n't just be a good hospital. The hospital is thoroughly mapped out and under intervention. The Luis Ablanque hospital was not helped . Blanquisetic is Luis Blanque. You whiten. Luis Ablanqu is a commitment, a debt that the Ministry of Health owed to the people of Buenaventura, who went on strike to restore him, and the ship that was delivered by the government, made and paid for by the national government, is for the entire coast. Well, obviously there's a legal difficulty, which is that he has to go to Tomaco, he has to go to Chocó. Which is the IPS? And the IPS should be that way. Sure, perfectly. And who should grant the ability, the health authorization, to Benconó? Well, all the mayors of the municipalities on the Pacific coast and the rivers where it will go have one week to do it. And the same goes for the project that is being carried out on the Amazon River. Well, then, how will it be able to preserve the original architecture? Yes, national heritage cannot be changed, it is already a jewel, but here it will finally be fully operational. The emergency room is here, this is where we are, but well, there should already be patients here. There's no reason why there shouldn't be. Primary care is still preventive primary care, which has worked for us throughout Colombia, and that's why all the mortality rates of children and pregnant women have fallen in Colombia. I mean, the fact that there are n't any patients here is a loss of life. Losing lives and there is only one responsibility at this moment and that is the Distalc Secretariat, these problems of the people run from Bogotá. How are you doing? How are we doing? He was the one who fought over the Pasta hospital. He fought it. Clear. I work with him. It's my wish . So, how many years has this been going on ? We estimate a year and a half, right? A year and a half. Yes. And let me tell you something, the S is going to give us a batch of 100 hectares. Signatories of the community are going to sow what will be consumed in the hospital. They're delivering it tomorrow, he has to go see it. Mr. President, this is another doctor's office. This is dermatology. Dermatology: skin biopsy. It's dermatology, and the equipment and all that. The technology here, yes, the technology, the devices. Yes. I mean, we have this section because for now, there will only be outpatient consultations here . What do we have? One question, the Gripen guys. Yes. Uh, that's called the compensation for compensating was one of the high- tech technologies. I even remember part of the restoration, do n't you? The last agreement as it was signed was for biomedical equipment and they have been going through a disaster of proposals , that is, they are not fulfilling the requirements, neither water panels nor are we showing what will be in each area, basic equipment. So, you're here, you're going to be in charge of the medical side or what? I am the director of health service delivery [clears throat] at the hospital. Yes. Here outside is the doctor who will be the coordinator of the prevention and early detection unit. Here, here she is a national. Where is the principal? The one for seizure and detection. I'm ready, I'm telling you, because I saw that you hadn't enabled the hiring of medical personnel. Call me. No, wait, the resolution comes out and the resolution comes out. That's what we're doing, Mr. President. Since the document stated that this service was located in the tower in the emergency wing, do you know what they said? They took legal protection, they didn't say that this wasn't an emergency service, and what happens is that it says it was in the emergency wing because it's true, so they return it, and they filed thousands of excuses, thousands of excuses, what came up was that the mobility plan means ambulances won't enter right now because only outpatients are coming, so return it, and then no, and besides, the judge's order was clear. It's about reopening, creating technical working groups to reopen the services that existed in 2016, and there was no plan, nothing. Do you know that the court order is what's telling us what to do? Sure, but the agreement signed in February helped them get their jobs back, right? In fact, the works, our report on the works, for which the judge, the judge lifts the contempt, says, "They complied with the contempt because they already did the works, they already made the tables, they are ahead of us, we lifted the contempt because in addition to the district there were us, there were the ministries." Well, so that the services like you being the director of this area that is not an emergency, outpatient, it is a care, we call it preventive outpatient care for the population of Bogota, but that was the excuse for why it is not open. They were falsely expecting this to be an emergency, and it still can't be. Uh-huh . This is the primary care area of ​​the hospital. It's ready. It's ready. It's ready to go. It still works by signature. That's how it is. And our general manager of the San Juan health service station. Director, you now. [laughs] For now, I mean, there's a director of services, another of training, and another of research, which is the core mission, and a fourth for national operations; those are the four directorates. Let's think about the ships to see if the ship can go in the fourth direction. Correct. And what happens if they don't sign? There is no medical care. No, they're signing after August 7th because we've already fulfilled all the requirements, but they want to delay it so it doesn't come out before August 7th, right? Sure, so that patients can come in after the 7th. That's it, that's it, we have to hurry [laughs] move forward here the PS, right? These are general medicine clinics, but there will be other clinics where we will perform initial low-complexity procedures. Is this the dermatology department, or which one is it here? Uh, I'm desubic of biopsy, the one who has it and the one who has the biopsy. Biopsy. Biopsy. And another one who's here too. We are going to continue the colonoscó colonoscó so that there is a demonstration of how we handed over this area, because when I finished my term as mayor I did the same thing and then when the director of Canal Capital came in, some time later he found all this destroyed, which was an obvious patrimonial loss, and they said that what I said was a lie . Then it must be certified that this is ready to function medically, not for complex issues, but for primary care, but it can already function. We're ready, let's sit down. This is the recovery area. Once the patient has undergone all the endoscopies and colonoscopies, the patients would then go here to the recovery room. That is also the area for all cancer prevention. Okay, let's continue. It has to be months, right? And it is exclusive that they make the lation and pass and president we attended to wounded among street thieves on the ground here was a university student. And a colleague had a brother who could go in and that was a hospital where he was on the floor because it wasn't giving out 3 [clears throat] in the morning, the gurneys were full and that's why the doctor and the nurse here are so high quality because they learned to do operations without instruments. That is unique in the world.