Tonight clouds of uncertainty and anticipation hang heavy over the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. 24 of the hospital’s 56 doctors called in sick today. The mass absence forced Belize’s national referral hospital to scale back on non-emergency services and even turn back some patients. Today’s dramatic development is the latest but also the most drastic step taken by the Belize Medical and Dental Union which has been at odds with the hospital’s administration for three weeks. Keith Swift has more on today’s sickout.
Keith Swift Reporting,
The waiting room was filled and for the most part things appeared as normal at the KHMH this morning but they weren’t. The hospital was in fact crippled because 24 doctors called in sick today.
Dr. Khaled Ghazy, Medical Chief of Staff
“Since seven o’clock this morning I’ve tried to puzzle the staff to see how we can work. Roughly about 24 called in sick for today. 24 physicians called in sick.”
Keith Swift,
So what is the situation now?
Dr. Khaled Ghazy,
“We’ve tried to utilize the existing staff because you know
we came off the weekend and weekends are very hectic so you have staff on leave right now after the weekend. So we are trying to cover with the existing staff for today. We basically have all the basic specialities now functioning; we have some specialists and medical officers on board. So we can cover Accident and Emergency without any problem for right now.”
Keith Swift,
What about the rest of the hospital?
Dr. Khaled Ghazy,
“It’s been covered; the round was done this morning, patients were discharged and patients were taken care of, medication was dispensed, x-rays and everything was taken care of. We do have couple of clinics that were cancelled this morning because of the call in sick. I hope that something will be resolved as early as tomorrow.”
Keith Swift,
Did you expect or anticipate this?
Dr. Khaled Ghazy,
“We didn’t anticipate it but it has happened and I think calling sick is part of the public service regulations and they did call myself or the office this morning and they apologized for not coming today to work.”
The hospital’s CEO Dr. Gary Longsworth arrived at 10 am after a morning show appearance.
Dr. Gary Longsworth, CEO – KHMH
“There were rumours yes from yesterday that this might happen but I was hoping that the doctors would have put the best interest of the patients first and refrain from this type of activity.”
Keith Swift,
Can you tell us what is the contingency plan?
Dr. Gary Longsworth,
“No, no I have to discuss it with my management staff first. There is no need for this to be a last resort. We have offered to go through the mediation process, the arbitration process, we in fact have agreed with several of the points in their MOU. It is just that they are not willing to negotiate any single point at all and that is what’s stalling the process. There is no need for this.”
Keith Swift,
Should people be concerned about coming here for treatment? Will there be a doctor to see them?
Dr. Gary Longsworth,
“Well we have to see what we can do to maintain the services in this hospital. It is a serious issue, we will try to deal with it as urgently as we can. That is all I can say at this time.”
And more bad news for Longsworth and the KHMH Board is the resignation of their Medical Chief of Staff Dr. Khaled Ghazy.
Dr. Khaled Ghazy,
“I can say that we are stretched very thin right now and I am pleading to the Prime Minister of this country to intervene and solve this problem as soon as possible. It cannot continue like that.
I did submit my resignation Friday and I think it supposed to have been accepted. I don’t think I can work with this board. This is something because you lost the trust, and I am sorry, I cannot really work in an environment that you are not feeling very happy with. So I submitted my resignation Friday the 3rd of July.”
Since his interview with us this morning, Dr. Gary Longsworth had been in meetings up until when we checked shortly before 5 this evening and was unavailable for further comment. As for Dr. Ghazy, his resignation will be effective August 10th. We should clarify that reports to us are that the patents who were turned back were those that visited the hospital for specialist clinics.
And as you heard in the story, Ghazy called on the Prime Minister to intercede today. The PM returned to the country from a CARICOM meeting today; he spoke to us by telephone this afternoon and here’s what he had to say. We will quote him at some length: “They (the doctors) seem to have no regard for their oath, or their duty of care to patients.” "I am certainly prepared to say to them that they have gone far too far."
"I would hope that we could persuade them to find a way forward on the basis of the concessions that the board has already made. Then we could restart the process and they go back to work. If they are not ready to do so – then we have a standoff. Either they get back to work and we restart the process or it will remain at a stalemate and we will have to see what we can do to fix that.”
The Prime Minister also spoke generally about the negotiation strategy. He said, “we cannot cave in every time the demands are ratcheted up. Every time they get what they want, they demand more – this is ridiculous.” The Prime Minister said that the subject will be discussed at Cabinet tomorrow where the board will also be asked to preset options for moving forward with the day to day operation of the hospital. He said he also expects to meet with the Medical and Dental Union.
