“It doesn’t close, Bona doesn’t close”, sing the health workers at the door of the National Mental Health and Addiction Hospital “Laura Bonaparte”, located south of the city of Buenos Aires, to which patients, neighbors, union delegates, human rights activists and left-wing politicians in solidarity. Since Friday, they have been organizing days of protest and vigils to resist the closure plan of Javier Milei’s government announced under the euphemism of “restructuring”.
The threat that the far-right government will implement a cruel phase of its program of budget cuts, now in public hospitals, has raised alarm bells. Laura Bonaparte is the only national mental health hospital. It is a model institution in Argentina and since 2016 it has been named after a Mother of the Plaza de Mayo as part of the paradigm shift promoted by the National Mental Health Law approved in 2010, with emphasis on human rights.
It is also an institution that supports the LGTBIQ community. Its facade is now covered with signs, such as the one that says “My mental health is in danger”. Or the one worn by retiree Guillermo Romero, faced with imminent closure: “Retired with Bonaparte”. From the Ministry of Health, headed by Mario Lugones, they have predicted that the current operation of the hospital requires a high budget of 17 billion pesos per year (15.8 million euros), which “is not in line with the very low occupancy rate it has”, with an “annual average hospitalization of 19 patients per day”. And, in a brief statement, they indicated that the “restructuring with referral of patients to other institutions” had begun.
Closure of daycare services and hospitalizations
The director of Laura Bonaparte, Christian Baldino, announced last Friday the closure of daycare and hospitalization services. The institution employs 612 people, professionals who, so far this year, have treated 25,000 people, even amid budget cuts in the sector.
The hospital has lost 60 professionals over the last two months: half were fired and the other half left due to precarious recruitment. The institution is a reference in public policy on mental health.
Sebastián Rigolino, a psychiatrist with external consultants, is outraged by the argument of Milei’s management. “There are 900 outpatient treatments that take place daily, between adults and children. Hospitalization is the last resort. The government shows a lack of knowledge of the subject, it only sees one aspect of mental health. The forefront is providing community mental health focused on outpatient treatment. At the hospital there is a kindergarten with 80 children, a cultural center; It’s full all the time,” Rigolino tells elDiario.es, who explains that since the pandemic, cases of depression, anxiety disorders and addictions have increased.
This increase in demand for post-pandemic care is not reflected in the recognition of doctors who treat patients in particularly vulnerable situations. According to Rigolino, “since December the contracts started to be renewed every three months (they were annual), we no longer have one day of training per week. I charge 1 million 600 thousand pesos (1490 euros). We are five psychiatrists, before there were twelve, because the contracts are not competitive and there are colleagues who have left. In October I treated 40 patients, now I am treating 80.”
“I was patient: that’s why I’m here”
Patients and former patients show unanimous support for the hospital: “I am an artist, I treated myself here for a long time, for addictions, I participated in many activities and I was able to move forward, it that’s why I am. here. It’s a very supportive space, the professionals are very loving and interested in their patients,” says Michel Lacrouix, a trans person, playing percussion.
In a letter addressed to Bonaparte’s family, the group HIJOS (Children for Identity and Justice, Against Oblivion and Silence) stressed that “today more people than yesterday know who Laura Bonaparte was . Because defending the hospital means defending its name and its memory. Today, more and more people are saying no to closure. »
In this worrying context, Victoria Argañaraz, occupational therapist and delegate of the Association of State Workers (ATE), tells elDiario.es that the government does not guarantee the continuity of jobs and does not specify its plan, so they will remain in struggle. “They say they would refer them to the hospital but there are patients who are not able to be transferred. There is no answer to this. Today, all 40 hospital beds are full. There were no new hospitalizations. There is anxiety among outpatients, many have come to ignore the workers’ measures because they would be left without treatment,” he explains.
It does not seem easy to understand where the population served at Laura Bonaparte will end up. Unlike other health centers, serious mental disorders as well as addiction problems are addressed there.
Sebastián Varela, a nurse at Garraham Hospital, an emblematic pediatric health center, joined Bonaparte’s protest: “I came here because they can go to other hospitals. It’s serious, where are the boarding schools going? And where do professionals go to work? Public health is a business for them (the government). “I also work as a driver because I can’t make ends meet.” For two months, Garraham has taken energetic measures against budget cuts and since Tuesday a 48-hour strike.
