Bajaur hospitals shut on unpaid salaries

Closures come as response to repeated protests and appeals by dedicated staff, including highly trained doctors

BAJAUR:

In the Bajaur tribal district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), three Category-D hospitals, operated through public-private partnerships, have been forcibly closed by staff members due to a prolonged non-payment of salaries extending over the past 12 months.

Despite their initiation in June 2022, located in Salarzai Tehsil, Larkhalozo, Mamond, and Nawagai areas of Bajaur, these hospitals have faced an ongoing issue of staff members not receiving their rightful salaries.

The closures come as a response to repeated protests and appeals by the dedicated staff, including highly trained doctors, who have now opted to shut down the facilities in a collective protest against the prolonged salary delays.

Read WSSP employees protest non-payment of salaries

This has left the hospitals, equipped with skilled medical professionals, inoperable, raising concerns about the impact on patient care and the broader community’s health needs.

An official of these hospitals while talking to The Express Tribune said the hospital building, including OPD, has been locked permanently.

“The private company has been paying us for three months after each 12 months which is not acceptable,” he said, adding that government has released funds for the project but the hospital administration is not willing to pay us our dues. He said that the protest will continue till the fulfilment of all the demands.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2024.