The controversy surrounding the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa continues, and the latest episode features the Minister of Labor, Solidarity, and Social Security, Maria do Rosário Ramalho, as the protagonist, after she appeared before the Assembly of the Republic to explain the dismissal of Ana Jorge and announce Paulo Alexandre Sousa as the new overseer of the institution. Stay up to date on the main points of this hearing. 

The hearing of the minister in the Committee on Labor, Social Security, and Inclusion, at the request of the Liberal Initiative and Socialist parties,  was marked by numerous criticisms. The minister accused  the dismissed overseer of the Santa Casa de Lisboa "of having found a financial cancer but treated it with paracetamol," pointing out that the financial situation worsened with Ana Jorge.

Maria do Rosário Ramalho reiterated that this was not a political dismissal, but rather justified that it had to do with the "extremely serious situation" of the institution and the fact that the Board did not take appropriate action in the face of that situation.

The minister pointed out that, as soon as she took office, she sought to learn about the financial situation of the SCML, and "confirmed" that, in addition to an "extremely serious situation," there were "disagreements among the members of the Board," which led to a breakdown in the relationship of trust with the overseer.

She mentioned the losses in social games and also the suspension of the business of selling the Portuguese Red Cross hospital, for which overseer Ana Jorge did not provide any justification. 

Maria do Rosário Ramalho said that she met with overseer Ana Jorge on April 12, without her presenting any restructuring plan, and that, before that, she met with the previous minister Ana Mendes Godinho, from whom she requested information about the Santa Casa because "strangely this topic, despite being a hot potato, was not included in the transition package."

Regarding the internationalization of social games, Maria do Rosário Ramalho said that the previous overseer suspended the process "without a divestment plan that could mitigate the contingencies at that time."

Audit of Santa Casa Global was "locked in a safe"

Maria do Rosário Ramalho revealed, at the same hearing, that she found the audit of Santa Casa Global, due to the internationalization of social games, "locked in a safe" in the Ministry.

To the deputies, the minister said that the transition package she received from Ana Mendes Godinho "was empty" with regard to this matter.

She stated that she questioned the previous minister about the matter and that the explanations were given to her orally, and it was also at that time that she learned that a forensic audit had been requested for the internationalization project of social games, that is, "an audit of investigation of illegalities regarding the actions of Santa Casa Global."

According to the minister, Ana Mendes Godinho stated that this audit was "a classified document" at her own request, due to the fact that the document had been sent to the Public Prosecutor's Office.

"It has nothing to do with secrecy, it has to do with the classification of the document and that is why the audit is locked in a safe in the ministry, which took a little while to get to," explained Maria do Rosário Ramalho.

She also revealed that she requested an opinion from the Commission for Access to Administrative Documents to find out how to proceed in this case.

Minister accuses former overseer of Santa Casa of hiding increases

The minister also criticized the fact that personnel costs have increased by about 11 million euros from "2023 onwards" and accused Ana Jorge of having hidden increases of around 20% for doctors and nurses of the institution, compromising Santa Casa with future expenses.

The minister said that the negotiation with the unions for a Company Agreement seemed "very good" to her, but she called attention to the fact that this presupposes that "a company in restructuring increases its workers by an average of 6.2%.

"The overseer hid from me the information that she made two agreements, with the nursing staff and the doctors, which provide for an increase of 20%, 10% in the year 2024 and another 10% in the year 2025," revealed Maria do Rosário Ramalho. "It compromises Santa Casa for future expenses", she criticized.

Government chooses Paulo Alexandre Sousa as overseer of Santa Casa (and the (new) controversy was not long in coming)

The minister would later announce that the economist Paulo Alexandre Sousa was chosen to assume the functions of overseer of the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, justifying this choice with his experience in management and in the social area.

Shortly after, the first controversy surrounding the name arose. According to CNN Portugal, the manager chosen to succeed Ana Jorge  was fined 2,900 euros and prohibited from exercising functions as president of the Central Bank of Mozambique in 2019. 

News at the time, which was reported by the newspaper Sol and the weekly Expresso, reported that the issue involved violations and conflicts of interest.

In response to Notícias ao Minuto, the Ministry of Labor defended that this process has already been finalized and recalls that "the person concerned appealed this decision to the Bank of Mozambique, which did not lift the suspensive effect."

"Dr. Paulo Alexandre de Sousa appealed through the courts and was acquitted, with the case being finalized, in 2020. This decision by the Mozambican judiciary proves that the new overseer has the integrity, capacity, and competence necessary to exercise this position," clarified the Ministry in a statement.

BE joins Chega and IL and will also request a commission of inquiry into the management of Santa Casa de Lisboa

At the end of the hearing of the Minister of Labor, the Left Bloc announced that it will request the creation of a commission of inquiry into the management of Santa Casa, similar to Chega and