San Andrés Hospital Crisis Puts Public Contracts Under Audit

Colombia’s health regulator took control of the San Andrés departmental hospital for one year after finding that 13 of its 59 licensed services weren’t operating, patients had waited more than a year for surgery and 3,676 radiology studies awaited review. The takeover came during President Abelardo de la Espriella’s first visit to the islands. He also accused local officials of trying to block the intervention and alleged they had steered public contracts to people linked to the governor’s office.

Inspections from 29 September to 2 October found one general surgeon covering several services. Supersalud, the National Health Superintendency, also reported an outstanding billing backlog of about 3,605 million pesos, or about US$1.1 million, as of December 2025. The agency called the hospital’s reported financial statements unreliable and named physician Marjorie Englehard Archbold as the special agent running the facility.

Hospital services and contracts

De la Espriella said high-tech equipment sat in crates and alleged that parallel payrolls existed. He said a photocopier contract cost 60 million pesos, or about US$19,000, a month, and alleged that people linked to the governor’s office had received cleaning and radiology contracts. The president hadn’t published documents to support those claims. The government said a forensic and technical team would audit every hospital contract.

At a confrontation recorded on video at the island’s naval base, De la Espriella addressed Governor Girley Ordóñez Bowie and Representative Elizabeth Jay-Pang Díaz. Pointing at Jay-Pang, he said he knew about “the business dealings of your husband,” as well as Coralina, the islands’ environmental authority. “The whole island knows that your husband is behind the contracting of the governor’s office, doctor,” he said.

Both women tried to respond. They said they had asked the Health Ministry to support the hospital, while Ordóñez replied “that is not true” to the contract accusation. By early 19 October, no formal statement from either official had been found. Jay-Pang’s husband wasn’t named.

National oversight and local commitments

On 18 October, Transparency Secretary Cristina Lombana asked the Procuraduría, the Contraloría and the Fiscalía to form a joint team to examine island contracts. Lombana said she acted on the president’s direct instruction and asked for a special group to work from Bogotá, off the island, to avoid local interference. The agencies respectively discipline officials, audit public money and prosecute crimes. The request doesn’t itself open a case: each body operates independently and decides whether to investigate. It wasn’t known whether they would accept the request.

Ordóñez won a special election in July 2026 with 10,874 votes, or 64% of the total. Jay-Pang represents the islands in the House of Representatives for the Liberal Party, one of Colombia’s two traditional parties. She also represented them from 2018 to 2022.

At a security council on 16 October, the governor’s office listed commitments for more police, naval and air controls against drug trafficking, contraband, extortion and loan-sharking. It also listed 27,238 million pesos, about US$8.6 million, for roads on San Andrés and Providencia. When the road funding and two new hospital projects would reach the islands wasn’t known.

Maritime claims and public works

De la Espriella said Colombia plans to sign a decree fixing the San Andrés archipelago’s maritime baselines on 30 November. Baselines mark the official points used to measure territorial seas and other maritime zones. Law 10 of 4 August 1978 ordered Colombia to draw them; the government set mainland coasts’ baselines in 1984, while the archipelago’s remained pending. Officials say they’ll publish the coordinates on official nautical charts.

The decree concerns waters disputed with Nicaragua. In November 2012, the International Court of Justice confirmed Colombian sovereignty over seven disputed cays but drew a boundary that gave Nicaragua waters east of the main islands. In April 2022, the court found that Colombia had violated Nicaragua’s sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone. Interior Minister Rodrigo Lara said Colombia would offer good-faith dialogue on the premise that the 2012 ruling “is inapplicable in its literal form.” Baselines alone don’t move an international boundary or cancel a court judgment. The coordinates and the government’s legal analysis weren’t public, and by early 19 October no public response from Nicaragua’s government had been found.

The Transport Ministry said repairs at Gustavo Rojas Pinilla airport fixed leaking roofs, a broken escalator and damaged restrooms. It said the airport had been “in unacceptable conditions, it was abandoned.” The ministry reported that the number of air-conditioning units increased from seven partly working to 17 fully working, including two new units, and that all eight restroom blocks returned to service. It said modernization planning with Aerocivil and the National Infrastructure Agency would follow; no budget or timetable had been published.