They call him “the Cuban”, but Homero Giles was born 43 years ago in Ituzaingó, province of Corrientes.
The nickname has to do with his academic career: he graduated from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana and specialized in
emergency medicine
.
They could also nickname him “Brazilian”, because some traces of the Portuguese language prevail in his verb.
Until he was 17 he lived in San Pablo.
He came there due to a family decision that was not entirely voluntary.
His parents went into exile, persecuted by the military dictatorship.
They still live there.
Giles now resides in the provincial capital.
She has two daughters and previously also worked as an agent at the Santogianni hospital and the UPA (Prompt Attention Unit) of Los Hornos (66 and 152).
“My parents and grandparents were always in the military.
In my house, politics was part of the family routine,” recalls this doctor who now has to
manage a volcano
that is constantly erupting: the IOMA, the social work of Buenos Aires employees, increasingly exposed to conflicts due to deficiencies in the service and budget reduction.
A Racing fan and reference in Kirchnerism, when he returned to the country he joined the professional teams of the Sanitary Sovereignty Foundation, an entity dedicated to training and research for “a more fair and inclusive health system.”
It is the
powerhouse of health ideas of La Cámpora
.
An NGO chaired by Nicolás Kreplak, the provincial health minister, and has the deputy and former minister of Cristina Fernández (and also of the Province), Daniel Gollán, as an academic consultant.
Giles with Axel Kicillof during a press conference last year.
Photo: Mauricio Nievas
He was in National Health, in the Undersecretary of Prevention and Risk Control, in the government of Cristina Fernández (2015/2019).
It was that bond that led him to lead IOMA in December 2019, when Kicillof took office.
It turned out to be a controversial management.
He took over -according to his own statements- with a net worth of
6,000 million pesos
and debts for almost double that.
“The institute is destroyed,” he warned almost from day one.
Then there were clashes with the clinics over an alleged idea of “nationalization” of the private health system, then hit by the Covid pandemic.
He confronted some medical associations
after denouncing cases of overbilling and other irregularities in settlements to social work.
In addition, it moved forward with the idea of enabling clinics managed by IOMA.
It set up its own hospital in Temperley, open to all patients, whether affiliated or not with the entity.
“It is an agreement with a private party.
We did not build or buy, but we set up the first polyclinic of our own.
And they say that I am the Cuban, but I make agreements with private companies.
That is not very communist, it is very Peronist.
And for the first time we give free benefits,” Giles ironically said in an interview.
He had another dispute with the doctors from La Plata, who cut the service in 2021.
He promoted the “free choice” of members
so that they could choose doctors directly, without intervention from the Association.
It was an unorthodox decision that led to more protests.
Now he attributes the current crisis of the social work that has 2.3 million members to the policies
"of total liberalization of the economy"
and the "uncontrollable costs of medicines and other prices of the health system."
It is the explanation that he gave in the Legislature when he was summoned due to the complaints of the people of Buenos Aires that cannot be addressed with IOMA.
“The institute had improved coverage, expanded and incorporated other benefits in 2023. We did not make an adjustment.
We expanded, but
without resources and with adjustments
like those that the Nation is subjecting to Buenos Aires today, it is impossible to maintain benefits,” he explained to the legislators.
The Silver. Correspondence
P.S.