Friday 18 May 2012

Nice job if you can get it

Dr. Ricard Gutiérrez Martí
BARCELONA (Agencies) Ricard Gutiérrez Martí, was co-Managing Director of the Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona between 2001 and 2004. However, he continued to be paid his full salary -between €80,000 and €110,000 per year- for the following seven years. He was not made redundant until last year, when he received an additional indemnity od €158,569.63, according to the foundation that runs the hospital. Having worked a mere three years at the hospital, Gutiérrez Martí received a total of over one million euros.>>>
The matter came to light after another doctor denounced the foundation for this and other alleged fraudulent episodes and mismanagement, among other things.

The historical Sant Pau Hospital
The hospital was taken over by the Generalitat (regional authority) in March this year when it was discovered that there were some €18 million unaccounted for. The denuncia presented by a doctor not only covers episodes of mismanagement over the years, but also sets out to prove that the way Sant Pau is run is bad for patients as well as staff.

Sant Pau was divided into two foundations in 1991, one of which managed the hospital itself, and the other managing its enormous estate of over 1,200 properties received from donations and wills over its five centuries of existence. A third section was added shortly after to take care of research.

Dr.Gutiérrez is a 'heavyweight' in the public health system of Catalonia and Spain, according to El País. He is presently Vice-President of the Medical Collegiate Organization, representing the College of Physicians of Catalonia. He is also a professor of Health Management at the Doctor Robert Foundation, which is part of the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (UAB). He has held important posts at the Health Ministry, the Council of Barcelona and the Spanish Red Cross. He will be called by the court to make a statement next week.


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