El Caribe newspaper reports that Dr. Daniel Joseph, director of the Dario Contreras Hospital, has not been fired from the post as reported nor has he resigned. He is on voluntary leave until a crisis at the hospital is resolved. Dr. Joseph last week fired 74 staff who had been added to the hospital’s payroll bringing the total to 210. The laid off workers, who were political appointees, reacted violently, forcing the Ministry of Public Health to send in a temporary director. News reports say an agreement was reached to reposition the staff members, and their pay would come from the Ministry of Public Health, not out of the hospital’s budget. El Caribe also publishes that Promese, the government medical supplies and medicine program, has reduced its supplies to 50% of previous levels. Earlier news reports have attributed the cuts in supplies to salaries for new staff eating up the department’s budget.
