health

As strike goes on, care is cut

After 33 days, the effects of the doctors strike are being felt both by patients and physicians.

Danilo Espino, a general practitioner at the Nuevo Veranillo medical center, explained that, at the beginning of the strike, doctors still attended patients with diabetes, hypertension, cardiac and arthritic problems, but now they "only deal with the real emergencies." That is because their wages have been cut so severely.

"We have been working and responding to emergencies despite the strike," Espino said. Yet, the Nuevo Veranillo medical center was almost empty yesterday.

In the Pueblo Nuevo medical center, there was a small number of patients and staff members with little work to do. Doctors in Pueblo Nuevo, about 12 of them, are uncertain of their future because they haven't received their paychecks in recent weeks. They handle about 25 emergencies a day.

The Minister of Health, Rosario Turner, confirmed on Nov. 30 that doctors on strike will receive a percentage of their paychecks or will not receive them at all if they do not return to their jobs.

Most recently, Turner said the government might be forced to declare a situation of medical neglect inside the country, and it might have to appoint foreign doctors in order to ensure medical attention.

The doctors and the government remain far apart in reaching an agreement.