A company managing the university hospital: from resistance to corporate management

Abstract

This study shows the process of resistance to assimilate the management of the Federal University of Santa Catarina’s
(UFSC) University Hospital (HU) by the Brazilian Company of Hospital Services (EBSERH), as well as reporting the first years of
this experience. The first part of the article discusses the managerialist logic applied in public policies as a supposed solution to the
state’s economic crisis. The second part describes the tensions in the debate between groups in favor and against EBSERH taking over
HU’s management, until the moment the University Board voted in favor of EBSERH management. The article presents some elements
of the three years of EBSERH’s management of the hospital. The study shows that the promises established in the contract between
UFSC and EBSERH have not been fulfilled because of political, economic, and administrative barriers since 2016. Therefore, there was
a timid expansion in the number of beds and services, staff, and technology, affecting the fulfillment of HU as a teaching hospital and a
service provider as part of the Brazilian Unified Healthcare System (SUS).