The government is appealing to health workers in the southeastern parts of the country to put their patients first above anything else in their services to mankind.
The Deputy Minister of Health and Chief Medical Officer, Francis Kateh, told the media yesterday in Monrovia that the government acknowledged the health workers’ concerns in Sinoe, River Gee, Grand Kru, Maryland and Grand Gedeh.
He said among other things that their matters of low salary, deduction in salaries as well as pensioners not yet being replaced with volunteers as employees were being looked into by the government therefore the health workers have been admonished to return to work.
The government’s reaction comes following reports that health workers in the southeast have grounded their tools because their salaries are reportedly low or being deducted and their colleagues who have volunteered their services for years are yet to be employed.
However, the Head of the River Gee County Hospital, Trokon Washington, confirmed the workers’ action but stated that for River Gee County, a skeleton team is in place in the absence of the workforce.
He believed in the wake of the workers’ action, there is nothing to worry about in River Gee as the few committed workers on duty will do their best in serving mankind.
The workers reportedly claimed that over two months now they engaged the Ministry of Health, local county health officers, local county authority, and members of the Legislative Caucuses and cataloged their concerns on issues affecting them, but all their efforts have apparently been ignored.
They claimed to have acquainted key actors in the sector about their concerns, but there has been no redress instead things continue to worsen.
However, they are requesting that the government and its partners address salary disparities among health workers, the constant deduction of their salaries and low or little salaries for healthcare workers.
According to them nurses with Diploma, AA, BSc Degree, Physician Assistants and other healthcare staff are earning less than US$250 as salaries, while those who are working a 24-hour shift because of the limited number of staff are earning less particularly in Grand Kru County.
They indicated that there are many volunteers at the various health facilities, something which is making the work ineffective because they are not earning better salaries at the end of every month while pensioned staffers are yet to be replaced.
