Honduran lawmakers demand investigations into hospital costs

Honduran legislative leaders are calling for increased scrutiny regarding public health expenditures and infrastructure projects. Legislative President Tomás Zambrano has called for the acceleration of investigations into the alleged overvaluation of the Ocotepeque hospital. Zambrano stated that the government is awaiting reports from auditing bodies, the Public Ministry, and the Superior Court of Accounts to determine the next steps for the hospital's construction.

Separately, Deputy Carlos Umaña has criticized the government's hybrid healthcare model, which utilizes private hospitals for public patients. Umaña cited a report detailing 405 high-cost surgical procedures, suggesting that approximately 26 million lempiras could have been better spent on modernizing public operating rooms and hiring specialists. He characterized the current system as unsustainable and argued that a lack of proper cost negotiation has turned the mechanism into a profitable venture for private medical centers.