Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul medical union challenges health service contracts

Doctors at the UPA Junção emergency unit in Rio Grande will limit non‑emergency care from 20 March after the municipal government failed to pay March salaries under the previous IBSaúde contract. The dispute, raised by the state medical union Simers, has led to legal action questioning IBSaúde’s capacity to run the facility and to a municipal request to make payments via court‑approved deposits, which was rejected.

In Porto Alegre, Simers also intends to appeal a judge’s decision that denied a request to suspend the transfer of 38 health centers to the new manager Instituto de Apoio à Gestão Pública (IAG). The union argues the transition risks service disruption, while the court noted the need to preserve possible corrective measures. The city has postponed the hand‑over of 28 health posts and a district pharmacy in the northern zone to early August, following early‑stage problems in the eastern zone under IAG’s management.