At the Hospital of the State University of Haiti as at the Justinian Hospital, the strike continues. Patients go to private centers and a few hospitals run by non-governmental organizations. Doctors are silent, especially since they also have tons of claims waiting for a circumstance.
At the University Hospital of La Paix, the support staff, long doubtful, joins the residents of the maternity ward. “The hospital is on strike until the authorities understand the sacrifice of the professionals who work in the hospitals”, proclaims a member of the union questioned at the entrance of the hospital, which is difficult to access on Monday March 28, 2022.
Evelyne Frémont, president of the union of health workers at the general hospital, explains that the MSPP’s proposal is far from satisfactory. “It’s been 20 months since we’ve been waiting for the monthly charge we were promised on a debit card. As a proposal, the MSPP cannot find anything better to offer than 15,000 gourdes, or 3 months out of 20. This is unacceptable, ”storm Évelyne Frémont.
Further, Ms. Frémont indicates that the union is ready to wait for the publication of a new budget for a salary increase that takes into account the cost of living in Haiti in 2022. However, the debit card is not negotiable, according to Évelyne Frémont. “In order to facilitate the resolution of the crisis, we can accept 10 months on the card while waiting for the health authorities to find a formula to support us, but 3 months is too little”, estimates the president of the union, which recalls that the resolution of the crisis must also go through the availability of inputs in public hospitals.
In Cap-Haitien, the tone is a little firmer. “There will be no lifting of the strike without the satisfaction of our main demands. We know for a fact that the NGO that subsidized the debit card has already donated the money. Misappropriation of this fund cannot be justified; we want the staff to pay the price. We will remain mobilized, ”said Serge Joseph, union member at the Justinien University Hospital, in an interview with Le Nouvelliste.
Mr. Joseph took the opportunity to denounce the behavior of certain leaders who, he said, were trying to corrupt the unions rather than supporting them. The MSPP, after many attempts, proposes a solution taking into account what is feasible at the level of the Ministry of Economy and Finance: “15,000 gourdes on the debit card to address this economic problem”, according to the director general. of the MSPP.
Once again, the MSPP takes the posture of firefighters faced with the need to rethink the management of public university hospitals in Haiti. There is no doubt that the strikers will find an agreement on the economic situation in the days to come. However, this cannot last. Today, it’s the staff, tomorrow it will be around the interns and/or residents to rush through the breaches of our multiple failures as long as the public hospitals are abandoned without any thought for a lasting solution.
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