Workers of a Buenos Aires mental health hospital are protesting the termination of its emergency care and hospitalization services. Doctors, nurses, and staff have been camped outside the Andrea Bonaparte, the only national state-owned mental health medical center, since the country’s Health Ministry announced the decision on Friday.

State-workers union ATE is claiming that the measure is laying the groundwork for the total closure of the hospital on Monday. A union communiqué stated that 612 jobs are at risk as a result of the decision and that the hospital has treated 25,000 people so far this year.

A spokesperson for the ministry run by Mario Lugones denied that they intended to close the facility and told the Herald that it was “restructuring” the medical center. A communiqué by the ministry........

© Buenos Aires Herald