Panama’s Ministry of Health (Minsa) has publicly rejected allegations that an $80 million tender for cleaning and disinfection services at nine public hospitals was designed to favor any particular company. The unusually long-delayed procurement process, currently suspended with no new date announced, has drawn complaints from bidding companies and sharp questions about how the ministry has managed hospital cleaning contracts since 2024.
What Happened
More than a week after receiving a questionnaire from Panamanian newspaper La Prensa about the tender, the ministry delivered partial responses insisting that no favoritism exists in the process. In an unsigned statement, Minsa “categorically rejects” that the tender, with a reference price of approximately $80 million, is directed or designed to benefit a specific company, as suggested in press reports.
The ministry reiterated that there is no intention to favor any determined company and that the established conditions aim to guarantee the winning bidder has the technical, operational and administrative capacity to take on a service critical to hospital functioning. The tender covers nine public hospitals over a five-year term, meaning the contract would extend beyond the current presidential period.
Twenty-three companies participated in the homologation phase, and four filed complaints, which have since been resolved by the Directorate General of Public Procurement. The tender uses a “best value” procedure, in which a commission weighs price alongside technical, administrative and financial criteria — an evaluation method previously used in public acts involving the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.
One contested requirement concerns consortia: the company supplying the workers — 595 employees are needed for maximum scoring — must also be the one providing hospital cleaning experience. Minsa defends this as “technically reasonable,” arguing the firm with specific hospital cleaning experience should also demonstrate the operational structure to execute the service, and that requiring payroll employees proves real, existing capacity rather than a future expectation of hiring.
Background
The tender matters because of how hospital cleaning has been contracted in recent years. The service is currently performed by Hombres de Blanco, Corp., which has benefited from several direct contracts awarded by Minsa since 2024 — despite the ministry having had six months in 2024 to call a public tender to ensure continuity of hospital cleaning services. Instead, it granted two direct contracts that year, promising a public tender in 2025. That year, the ministry again awarded direct contracts, this time to a single company: Hombres de Blanco.
The new requirements also mark a shift from 2024, when Hombres de Blanco was selected in a consortium with a company holding greater hospital cleaning experience. The two firms complemented each other’s strengths — one with more experience, the other with more employees. Under the current tender documents, that combination would no longer be permitted. Asked by La Prensa what changed between 2024 and 2026, Minsa responded that each procurement procedure is independent, that institutional needs evolve over time, and that different requirements from earlier contracts do not by themselves constitute an irregularity.
The ministry also faces scrutiny over oversight. It acknowledged that after 15 months of Hombres de Blanco providing the service since 2025, the Comptroller’s Office has still not countersigned (refrendado) the contract. That stands out because Comptroller Anel Flores boasted this same week that his office has cut countersignature times from 266 days to just three and a half days.
What This Means for Panama
The tender’s outcome will shape how one of the country’s most essential public services — hospital hygiene and infection control — is delivered for the next five years, at a cost of more than $80 million to the state. The five-year term, Minsa argues, responds to planning, efficiency and continuity criteria, avoiding annual repetition of procurement processes and reliance on contract extensions.
Critics note, however, that planning and continuity are precisely what has been lacking: the ministry took more than two and a half years to organize the current tender, which remains suspended with no announced date for a new convocation. Another change in the new terms requires the winning company — rather than the hospitals — to purchase the cleaning chemicals.
With transparency in public procurement under continued public scrutiny in Panama, the resolution of the four companies’ complaints, the eventual reopening of the tender, and the Comptroller’s handling of the existing contract are all developments worth watching in the months ahead.
This story was originally reported by La Prensa.