Births are stopped at the "Dr. Kiro Popov" municipal hospital in Karlovo as of today. The reason is that pediatricians from the Children's Department refuse to consult newborns in the AG department, who are of varying degrees of prematurity.
The problem arose a few months ago, after the neonatologist from the Children's Department retired. After her retirement, the pediatricians refused to consult premature newborns, even though they were offered additional payment.
"The biggest problem is that Dr. Marinova left. She was our staff, then she went to help in the Children's Department and that's what she got for her salary. A micropediatrician must be present during the clinical course of births to examine the child. Now it was very difficult for them, the births have decreased", said Dr. Donka Dobreva, a doctor in the AG department of the "Dr. Kiro Popov" MHAT in Karlovo.
Since the beginning of the year, there have been 125 births in the AG department. The mayor of Karlovo told BNT that the local authorities are making efforts to find a specialist.
"The staffing crisis is severe. For 2 months, we have been looking for a neonatologist, myself, the Chairman of the Municipal Council, the hospital manager, and it turns out that colleagues prefer to work in private hospitals and do not want to work in municipal ones, commented Dr. Emil Kabaivanov, Mayor of Karlovo.
The local authorities called on the state and the Ministry of Health to assist in increasing the intake of doctors and medical specialists, as well as to consider in what form the distribution of newly graduated doctors could be restored.
"When I graduated, I was subject to distribution. Whoever wanted went to a large hospital, whoever wanted to go to a small one. Now there is no such mechanism, even in a severe crisis," explained Dr. Emil Kabaivanov.
Currently, 4 doctors work in the Pediatric Department, and three in the ENT Department. The Maternity Department serves patients from 6 municipalities.