Vilardebó: shifts left uncovered, building compromised

What it is

Vilardebó Hospital is the country's reference public psychiatric hospital and is run by ASSE. Its physical decay is long-standing: in May 2016 Búsqueda reported a riot in Ward 11, the maximum-security wing, where patients burned clinical records and mattresses —“it was the biggest riot of recent times”, the director said— and the rebuilding of that ward, begun days later with an estimated timeline of “some two or three months”. In 2018 the works were put at around 100 million pesos, according to El Observador.

What is questioned

On 11 July 2024 la diaria reported that the Uruguayan Medical Union filed a complaint with the National Labour Directorate saying ASSE had breached the agreement —signed by the union, the Uruguayan Psychiatry Society and ASSE— under which the agency committed to providing the psychiatrists needed to staff every shift at Vilardebó and to compensatory measures if staffing fell short: “there is no adequate coverage in psychiatric shifts”. ASSE replied that “there are some difficulties covering the centre's shifts because of the number of staff on medical certification”, that recruitment was under way and that cover was being provided by the hospital director or other professionals. In September 2025, workers at Vilardebó and Ceremos told the same paper there was no dialogue with ASSE's mental health director, Gabriela López Mesa, in post since 29 June, and said “there are patients on the ward, without care, when psychiatrists could be hired and the paperwork is not processed”. On 2 October 2025, before the joint parliamentary mental health committee, ASSE deputy general manager Alejandra Caputi said “Vilardebó really is very compromised” structurally, and officials described residents with “a very poor daily life”.

Why it matters to you

A psychiatric shift without adequate cover is a service the State pays for and delivers only partly, at the public hospital of reference for acute crises. And a badly damaged building makes everything dearer: every year without works raises the cost of the future works and worsens care for people who cannot simply go elsewhere.

Where it stands