The Health Professions Unions Federation Rejects Burdening Employees with the Consequences of the Financial Crisis

SadaNews: The Palestinian health system is experiencing one of its most complex financial crises in recent years, where factors such as the blockade and financial piracy intersect with government deficits, placing health institutions and their workers in unprecedented challenges. In the midst of this crisis, the Federation of Private and Non-Governmental Hospitals issued a statement outlining the extent of the financial challenges facing these institutions. In response, the Palestinian Health Professions Unions Federation affirmed its position regarding employee salaries and their employment rights, emphasizing the necessity of not burdening workers with the consequences of the crisis.

Statement from the Palestinian Health Professions Unions Federation

The union stated in its announcement: "In light of the suffocating financial crisis that the Palestinian health system is going through, and the cumulative pressures resulting from the occupation authorities' piracy of tax revenues, along with the continued government incapacity to make a real breakthrough that alleviates the severity of the crisis, the Health Professions Unions are following with great concern the trends and measures taken by some hospital administrations that directly affect the workers in the health sector."

It added: "While the Health Professions Unions affirm their full understanding of the financial challenges facing private and non-governmental hospitals, they categorically reject burdening the employees and workers in the health sector with the consequences of this crisis or dragging them as a weak party to pay the price for administrative and financial failures that have accumulated over many years, at a time when these workers were the first line of defense and guaranteed the continuity of health services to citizens in the most difficult circumstances."

The federation confirms: "That health employees have never been a party in creating the crisis; rather, they have been its victims, having endured consecutive years of salary delays, reductions, and diminished employment rights, without any real measures to protect or compensate them. Therefore, any attempt to tamper with workers' salaries, or burden them with the results of the financial deficit, or to threaten them with arbitrary measures, is considered a red line that is rejected and a direct assault on the dignity of workers and their basic rights."

The federation also called on the Ministry of Labor: "To assume its legal and national responsibilities and not to respond to any requests or attempts to restructure health institutions at the expense of the workers in them, or to pass collective dismissal procedures under the pretexts of bankruptcy or reorganization, without precise legal and financial scrutiny, and without ensuring the full rights of workers in accordance with the provisions of Palestinian labor law and relevant agreements."

The federation concluded its statement by emphasizing that: "It will not stand idly by in the face of any attempt to tamper with workers' salaries or their employment rights, and will not allow employees to become easy victims of crises in which they were not the cause, warning that the continuation of these policies will push towards legitimate struggle steps in defense of professional dignity and to maintain the stability of the health sector and the continuity of its services to citizens."

Statement from the Federation of Private and Non-Governmental Hospitals

The statement issued by the Federation of Hospitals indicated: "The Federation assures public opinion and the relevant official bodies that private and non-governmental hospitals are going through an unprecedented, suffocating financial crisis due to the alarming increase in the amount of debt owed to them in light of the failure to adhere to the agreed-upon monthly payments. We wish to emphasize that these monthly payments represent only a small percentage of the existing debt for each hospital with an average not exceeding (1.7%), which is the minimum that allows hospitals to continue providing their essential health services and fulfilling their operational obligations."

The statement continued: "The total debt has reached unprecedented figures at a time when the agreed-upon monthly payments have not been disbursed, in addition to the failure to disburse parts of previous payments. The situation is exacerbated by banks and financial institutions stopping any additional financing or facilities for hospitals due to linking the hospitals' direct financial commitments with the government, which has deprived them of any alternative financing margins and placed them in a genuine financial predicament threatening their ability to continue operating."

It added: "The continued failure to pay the minimum of the monthly due payments to private and non-governmental hospitals directly threatens their ability to provide health services, placing them in serious operational and financial challenges that could soon lead to compulsory decisions to stop medical services due to shortages of medicines and supplies."

The federation confirmed that: "The utmost priority will remain to ensure the continuity of providing vital services, foremost among them dialysis services, chemotherapy, and cases currently receiving treatment, but the continuation of this situation without urgent solutions exposes the entire health system to real risks."

It continued: "Based on our national and professional responsibility and our understanding that the main cause of this crisis is the withholding of tax revenues and the unjust blockade on national authority institutions, the federation distances itself from the option of strikes and stopping the reception of referred patients due to its direct effects on health services. However, the difficult financial reality and the inability to provide some medical devices, medications, and necessary supplies will impose a reduction in carrying out a number of medical procedures at this stage. The federation also refers to the repeated meetings held with the government/Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Finance and the accompanying promises and commitments, especially regarding providing the minimum of monthly payments to provide essential supplies and anesthesia drugs, which have not been fulfilled to date."

The statement concluded by stating: "In light of the severe difficulties that hinder the full disbursement of employees' salaries, the federation has chosen not to pay the full salaries in favor of the public interest and to ensure the continuity of providing necessary medicines, treatments, and medical supplies to citizens. The federation confirms in this context that it bears the burdens of providing high-cost health services in accordance with the plan to localize medical services, and undertakes to provide them to citizens while committing to delivering them efficiently and effectively and with high professional capability."

Therefore, the federation called on the relevant authorities to: "Urgently intervene and commit to paying the financial dues according to the signed agreements, ensuring the continuity of health services and guaranteeing the patients' right to receive uninterrupted treatment."

The statements reflect that the financial crisis has placed hospitals and workers in direct confrontation, where the Federation of Hospitals seeks to ensure continuity of services through salary cuts, while the Health Professions Unions Federation refuses to burden employees with the consequences of the crisis. This divergence reflects the depth of the financial impasse threatening the stability of the Palestinian health sector and underscores the urgent need for government intervention that balances the protection of workers' rights with the guarantee of continuity of medical services for citizens.