The incoming Secretary of the Department of Health, Lorenzo González Feliciano, announced on Monday the dismissal of the now former employee of that agency, Mabel Cabeza. This came from the possible management of 500 of the limited supplied of 1,500 COVID-19 test kits that were sent to the island. This compounds the on information revealed by the Peridico Investigativo (CPI) of irregularity in the hiring of employees through the outsourcing agency Manpower.
Likewise, he indicated that all the contracts that the Manpower company maintains with the Department will be reviewed.
“After analyzing what has been publicly aired and in accordance with what was announced yesterday by the governor, Wanda Vázquez Garced, we make public the dismissal of the now former employee of our Department, relieving her of all her functions effective immediately. During the confirmation hearings, I assured that I would be evaluating everything concerning the Department, and this is the first step we take today”, said González Feliciano in a press release.
Similarly, the Secretary of Health announced that he has issued instructions to verify 100 percent of the contracts that the Manpower Company maintains with the Department, in terms of the employees that have been hired by the agency, which will be done under his supervision.
For example, Lumary Cabeza, Mabel Cabeza’s sister, was located in the Medicaid Program Office through Manpower, billing more than $70 an hour, according to a discovery from the Periodico Investigativo (CPI). Salud did not respond to a request for an interview to confirm the information, but the CPI found Lumary Cabeza in official documents representing Salud on behalf of Medicaid and was able to corroborate that she continues in the agency to the present.
He added that this includes the salary awarded to each employee by contract, so that it is in accordance with the tasks they perform, while reviewing that each of them meet the requirements of the position.
“I have seen the signs that have come out in the media and under my administration, we will ensure that all processes, past and future, are carried out in accordance with the laws and that they are consistent with everything stipulated in the Government Ethics Law. In my administration, there will be no space for hiring that does not occur within the framework of the law”,assured the doctor.
“As we know, we are at a time when prudence and spending cuts have been called for within all government agencies, and the Health Department is no exception. We will maintain those that are strictly necessary for the operation of the agency.”
The Secretary of Health emphasized that everything will be done with the seriousness and haste that this requires.
“The Governor of Puerto Rico has already been clear that these signs that have been publicly aired must be resolved immediately, so today, during my first day serving as proprietary Secretary, we will be attending not only to those related to the Coronavirus but also to and the agency as a whole, to ensure that each administrative action is in accordance with the regulations and laws of the Government of Puerto Rico”, he concluded.
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