Doctors at Bor State Hospital, the main referral health facility in the Jonglei State, have decried the prolonged shutdown of the facility by staffers protesting their transfer elsewhere outside the town of Bor.
The closure of the hospital’s main gate and other key infrastructure by disgruntled staffers happened on Friday following a health ministry order transferring some staff to Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) and county hospitals outside the state capital, Bor.
The striking workers say their transfer was nonprocedural and that some locations outside Bor, like Baidit, Makuach, and Kolnyang payams, where they are being transferred, are not inhabited. Their concerns were expressed in a document shared with Radio Tamazuj over the weekend.
Dr. Majok Philip, the hospital’s acting medical director, told this publication on Tuesday that the hospital remains closed, with only patients seeking emergency medical care getting attention.
As of today, the main gate, outpatient department (OPD), laboratory, antenatal care unit, EPI unit, water supply system, and medical director’s office remain closed.
“The hospital was closed most of Friday and temporarily reopened over the weekend. However, since Monday, it was shut down again,” Dr. Majok stated. “Our patients are denied access to the hospital, and as a result, a woman gave birth at the gate this morning.”
“I am currently inside the hospital managing any patients who make it through the gate, but my office is locked,” he added.
Majok urged the government to intervene, saying their efforts to resolve the issue were futile as the striking staff refused to talk to them.
Another doctor, David Tor, said the workers, mainly birth attendants, clinical officers, and other unclassified ones, are protesting their transfer from the main hospital to facilities like Baidit Hospital, Kolmerek PHCC, Pariak PHCC, and Makuach PHCC.
“We talk to them to let the hospital remain open as they seek their demands from the ministry because their transfer was from the ministry, but they refused. These changes being effected are part of the ministry’s policy and Doctors’ Union advocacy for improved health systems,” he explained. “During an assessment in February, it was recommended that Bor State Hospital have nine general practitioners and five specialists. Based on that recommendation, we now have two more practitioners and a gynecologist, pediatrician, physician, general surgeon, and dentist as specialists.”
“Also, as part of the recommendations, the unclassified staffers were supposed to be transferred, and this is what brought the problem,” Dr. Tor added.
Meanwhile, Nyamar Lony, the state information minister, said the government was aware of the closure of the hospital and that efforts are being made to ensure the swift resumption of operations at the facility.