The go slow is over; today doctors at the KHMH returned to their normal duty. The fifty or so doctors had been on a “go slow” since Wednesday to protest the termination of the hospital’s medical chief of staff Dr. Khalid Ghazy and to protest conduct of senior staffers including the Chairman of the hospital board. Ghazy was reinstated on Wednesday evening but the go-slow remained in effect all of yesterday until this morning. But it is not over - the doctors returned today pending a meeting on Monday with the Ministry of Health. Drs. Martha Habet and Beatriz Thompson – say it is because of their commitment to patients that they are protesting.
Dr. Martha Habet, Medical & Dental Association
“We are aware of our responsibility with the public, with the patients and we don’t want them to feel that we are not thinking about them. And in fact the reason why we had started all of this, as you know it is not the first time, we always try to tell people what is happening so that they know that we have them on our minds, they are always there, because what we try to do is to improve the quality of care. But the question is how will you ask doctors or nurses to have good quality of care when you are not given the tools, you are not given the equipment, you are not given the supplies you need to do it. So then that is what really moved for all of this happen.”
Dr. Beatriz Thompson, Medical & Dental Association
“This is not a fight, no kind of personal fight with the Minister, with the CEO, with whoever is involved in this. Bottom line and the issue here is not about personalities and who can’t get along with whoever. The issue is and we don’t want anybody to deviate from that major issue which is that we want the equipment to work with. We want our supplies to be there. Just like what Dr. Habet says when the patient is in front of us you can’t tell them about due process, and processes and bureaucracies to acquire these things. We want it, the patients want it, and it is for the best interest of the patients.
We are working normal right now. Nobody is on go slow. I don’t think we were ever on go slow because from way back if there isn’t any suture then we can’t do the elective surgeries. If there isn’t any bed at Karl Heusner then they can’t get a bed to come to do their surgery. No elective surgery can be done. For the past days the surgical ward is very filled to maximum capacity so only emergencies being done. So it is not about us stopping the elective surgeries. They weren’t being done in any instance any way.”
Keith Swift,
What is in the letter you sent, what are you guys asking for?
Dr. Beatriz Thompson,
“That is not up for discussion right now. As soon as we send it to them and we have it in our hands, you’ll get all that information on Monday.”
Keith Swift,
Will it be an ultimatum or a time period for these demands to be made?
Dr. Martha Habet,
“We hope that by Monday we could answer that question to you.”
That meeting is on Monday morning and we’ll have its outcome in Monday’s newscast.
