At least 24 medical specialists, including 11 gynecologists and obstetricians from the Casa del Niño Maternal and Child Clinic in Montería, they resigned due to an alleged low salary by the entity and an increased workload. Health professionals assure that their labor rights have been violated by the owners
In a statement they indicated that they were unable to finalize the decision to continue with the current economic remuneration in the contracts with the current owners of the entity, the Uros business group, which will now govern with new contractual agreements where 20% less than the salary that the specialists had been earning is stipulated.
“We do not consider fair a salary decrease of 20% of the horia, taking into account the CPI rate in Colombia for 2022 (5.6%) and the increase in the minimum wage”, the specialists pointed out in the statement.
In addition, they added that “noor we are not responsible nor should we assume at the expense of a salary reduction the current debts of the institution”. Enrique Ayala, director of the Casa del Niño Maternal and Child Clinic confirmed the resignations, in which he also highlighted that within these there are also staff doctors.
He indicated that these resignations will not cause greater trauma, because they have 70 doctors and it will be easy to hire others. The director has 30 days to study the resignations and try to reach an agreement with the doctors.
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The Colombian Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Fecolsog) as well as the Cordoba Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ASCOG) confirmed their concern due to what happened at the Casa del Niño Maternal and Child Clinic in the city of Montería and supported the decision of the health professionals who carried out a cessation of activities because their salary was reduced by 20%.
In the Fecolsog statement delivered to the public, they express their concern due to the “continuous deterioration of working conditions, the detriment in the income of its professionals, continued closures of obstetric services due to lack of profitability and the lack of regulation that limits our free professional exercise”.
They also assure that, “In the midst of a pandemic that has become a challenge for humanity and for health systems where human talent in health has given everything for human life, the permissiveness of the government and control entities for outsourcing in hiring, the culture of non-payment and the understanding of care for pregnant women as a business that “must be economically profitable” aggravate these situations and they are rewarded not only in mistreatment of those who care for pregnant women, but in an even more unfortunate way, in the very quality of care for pregnant families and their newborns.”
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“The general perception of the gynecology and obstetrics union is that of a poorly paid job, with few guarantees, with high clinical risks, with work overload, with little stability, favoring the outsourcing and exploitation of human talent and favoring a greater risk of legal claims that lead to permanent dissatisfaction on the part of the obstetrician-gynecologist in the face of his work”
On the other hand, Ascog, in another statement, assured that “as professionals We cannot allow this type of abuse against a sector that has already violated its fundamental labor rights. as is that of health workers. During the pandemic we have had to face this adverse situation from day one; They call us heroes, but working conditions are increasingly degrading for health sector personnel.”
And they affirmed that, “The group of gynecologists – obstetricians from Cordoba we will always be willing to dialogue with the different institutions that require our services, as long as it is under conditions in which the work we carry out as specialized professionals is valued and recognized”.
The SOS Colombia Movement also reiterated its support for professionals and expressed solidarity with the massive resignation of this group of health specialists. Affirm that, “This is one of the results of an inefficient regulation of the hiring dynamics. Health workers in Colombia have been claimed by public opinion, the media and the government as “heroes”, however, their work reality is not in line with these thanks”.
And they add, “The absence of decent remuneration are systemic characteristics of this work. On the other hand, these measures go against medical dignity and health sector workers cannot participate in decisions that only benefit this type of merchant, affecting working conditions.”
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