While a new bronze bust was being installed at the Regional Hospital of Líbano, Tolima, in memory of Alfonso Jaramillo Salazar -promoter of the medical complex and father of former minister Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo-, its directors were carrying out a multi-million contractual process that has just collapsed.
According to their own statements, on July 1, 2026, the department in charge of Jaramillo rated the hospital expansion, strengthening, and modernization project as having ‘national impact,’ issued a favorable technical opinion, and authorized them to carry out the contractual processes. However, EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit learned of a letter notifying that the work, valued at more than 79 billion pesos, was halted following a double warning letter from the Attorney General’s Office.
Turns and alert
Control agencies had already received information about transfers of more than 14 billion pesos from the Health department for basic equipment of the medical center, which bears the name of the father of the former minister of the Petro government. And this was joined by the alert regarding the permission to contract the multi-million works, under the umbrella of ‘national impact’.
After reviewing the matter, the Attorney General’s Office warned of fundamental risks in the selection process due to lack of publicity of the basis of the studies and technical designs, plans, calculation reports, and other documents related to the component of the complex civil work.
Marcio Melgosa, first delegate prosecutor for the Oversight of Public Function, warned them on August 5 that the omission of these elements evidenced that the technical planning of the work is insufficient and incomplete. Therefore, he urged them to address the observations and immediately suspend the procedure.
Letter of insistence
Despite the warnings, the process continued in the final stretch of the Petro government, and the control entity had to send a second letter on August 26. In it, it warns that, to date, no response had been received from the Alfonso Jaramillo Salazar Regional Hospital E.S.E. regarding the risks warned. And it reiterates the need to suspend the process.
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According to the Secop II page, this second alert was finally heeded and, 48 hours later, the process was halted.
EL TIEMPO’s Investigative Unit exclusively obtained the letter, signed by Nelly Belén Arsuza Mendoza, special intervention agent of the hospital, who, after justifying the contractual process and some decisions, stated that, without implying acknowledgment of responsibility, “the entity accepts the observations made by that Delegate Attorney General’s Office and decided to terminate the selection process LP-003-2026″.
And in the text, it is admitted that deficiencies were identified in the development of the evaluation of the offers carried out up to that moment.
However, it warns that it will proceed to restart the contracting process, after a point-by-point review of the terms of reference, studies and technical, budgetary, and financial documents, and other aspects indicated by the Delegate Attorney General’s Office.
The new process, according to local leaders, will coincide with the 2027 Governors and Mayors elections, for which the name of former minister Jaramillo is being mentioned, to whom Petro awarded the Boyacá Cross for services rendered to health.
INVESTIGATIVE UNIT
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