Resentment brews as pvt hosps resort to salary cuts

Kochi: While the state is in the midst of a fight against Covid-19, major private medical colleges and hospitals are looking are cutting the salary of staff by up to 50%, citing fund crunch.
While corporate hospitals are taking bank loans to pay staff, others have started resorting to salary cuts with a promise of payment later. The managements have also written to the state and central governments, seeking interest-free loans and at least 50% waiver in electricity and water bills for three months.Almost 75% of the doctors in the state are employed in private hospitals.
“Our source of income is from patients and that has stopped. Currently, we can pay just about 50% salary of doctors and other staff,” said Kerala Private Hospital Association (KPHA) president Dr P K Mohamed Rasheed.
“We have informed our doctors that we would hold up to 50% of their salaries, while we have paid the nurses. The unpaid amount would be paid in instalments later,” said Fr Paul Karedan, director, Lisie Hospital.
While many hospitals have withheld salaries of senior doctors by between 30% and 50%, some have asked doctors and nurses to go on leave without pay for 10 days, leading to resentment.
“The doctors are upset and the managements are asking us to tell doctors to adjust. It is a tough situation,” said Dr Abraham Varghese, state president, Indian Medical Association.
“Without the support of the government and our doctors and staff, we foresee a bleak future,” said KPHA general secretary Hussain Koya Thangal.
Hospitals earning has reduced manifold, with most of them halting OP and elective surgeries. Patient visits have dropped by around 75% and admissions by 65% in major hospitals, leading to huge losses. Manpower takes up around 45% of the expenditure of a well-run hospital.
“We always thought that people would always fall sick and would need doctors. But now we have to re-think our strategy,” said VPS Lakeshore hospital chief executive officer S K Abdulla.
“We will try to protect the salaries of our frontline workers and those dealing with Covid-19 patients. But we need urgent government intervention to reduce interest rates on bank overdraft as most of us have taken overdraft to pay salaries,” said Dr Harish Pillai, CEO, Aster Hospitals and Clinics, India.
The biggest losers are consultants who charge as per the surgeries performed and patients seen. Their income has dropped by almost 75%.
Even private medical colleges are in a financial soup. “We have approached banks for loans to pay salaries for March. We have also written to the state and central governments to bail us out with a financial package,” said Dr K M Navas, president, Kerala Private Medical College Management Association.