The Executive Committee of the Dominican Medical Association (AMD) went into continuous emergency session yesterday and alerted all its members to remain ready for a possible protest strike to paralyze the nation’s hospitals. The AMD represents most of the nation’s doctors. AMD officials are angry over the Wednesday dismissal by the Dominican Social Security Institute (IDSS) of 242 doctors. The IDSS claims, among other things, that many of the dismissed doctors were collecting IDSS salaries for hours in which they actually worked outside IDSS facilities. AMD claims that IDSS did not follow proper procedures in the dismissals and has not proven the charges against the doctors involved. AMD also argues that, before it engages in wholesale dismissals of personnel, IDSS should first reform itself and address the root of many of its problems with doctors, namely its low salary levels.
