24 November 2012, 18:00
In Adzharia, staff members of two medical centres hold protest actions
In Adzharia, the medical staff of the Shuakhevi medical centre went on strike and stopped taking patients. Earlier, the protest action was held by staff members of the Kobuleti District Hospital.
In the Shuakhevi centre, about 80 employees of the medical centre took part in the strike. The strike was caused by a new contract, proposed by the owner of the "Clinics for My Family", a subsidiary of the Insurance Company "Aldagi BCI".
Under the new contract, salaries of medical staff were to be reduced in two and, in some cases, in four times. The medical staff refused to sign the contract and stopped working in protest.
Representatives of the Adzharian Ministry of Public Health, the Department for Emergencies of the Ministry of Public Health of Georgia, and of the "Clinics for My Family" were informed about the demands of the medical staff in the place. The negotiations, held behind closed doors, resulted in the agreement that the medical staff would continue working. "The Clinics for My Family" will offer them new terms of the contract. This was reported by the "Georgia Online" on November 24.
The protest action was also held by medical staff of the Kobuleti District Hospital, who demanded that the Company "Aldagi BCI" should cancel plans to dismiss nurses and who also protested against the changes in the salary system. Till that time, staff members received fixed salaries; however, at present, the rule changes, and part of them have been transferred to volume-based payment, the source named "blackseanews" reports.
Till present, no comments to the Company "Aldagi BCI" on the requirements of the medical staff are available.