Protest in Pavlikeni against changes in the management of the municipal hospital. Doctors are unhappy that the Municipal Council in the city is considering this to happen at an extraordinary meeting, and the management and employees of the hospital have prepared a collective resignation, "Nova TV" indicated.
The municipal hospital serves 30,000 people on the territory of at least 2 municipalities. 150 people work in the medical institution, and the procedure for selecting the new manager has been going on for 3 months. People assume that the new proposal will lead to cataclysms in the management of the hospital.
“We support with a peaceful protest the manager of our hospital, who has stabilized it. She was the manager for 16 years, she led the hospital through many crises, including COVID-19. The commission ranked her in second place with undeservedly low marks, which is unacceptable. That's why people want stability and for the manager to continue managing the company," explained Dr. Stoev.
“Krasteva has very good management experience, she stabilized the hospital, raised our salaries. We are a very small, close-knit team that works in good collaboration. We are afraid that the hospital will be closed, and the specialists are threatening to leave. After them, we will leave too, because we cannot work according to medical standards”, said senior nurse Savova, who has been working at the hospital for 32 years.
“Whether there will be a collective resignation depends on the situation. Quite a pitiful situation. It is not normal. Just as we have sent deputies to the National Assembly to represent us, so too should the municipal councilors work for us and ask us”, believes Dr. Vatev, who has been working in Pavlikeni for 43 years.
“The commission has worked according to clear rules set by the Municipal Council. People have some concerns that the hospital will close and they will leave. I don't know on what grounds”, said the chairman of the health commission at the Pavlikeni Municipal Health Service, Tsanko Tsonev.
“We have chosen a manager based on the assessments of a 7-member commission. There are no doctors on it, but there are opinions from the RHI, RHIF and other medical personnel who attended the exam”, he added.
Long-time manager Dr. Reneta Krasteva explained that she is separated from first place by 12 hundredths. “At the oral exam, the committee told me that my answers were comprehensive and sufficient”.
“We followed certain criteria. The committee's decision is subject to a vote by the Municipal Council, which is today. At this point, the hospital does not have an acting manager. Dr. Krasteva's contract has expired and has not been extended”, said Tsonev.
The employees will continue their protest in front of the Municipal Council.