Jerusalem hospital staff call off strike after reaching deal with PA
Palestinian medical workers called off a strike on Tuesday after reaching an agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday evening to keep the doors of a major hospital in occupied East Jerusalem open to patients.
Workers and administration staff from al-Makassed Islamic Charitable Society Hospital had a dispute with the PA regarding overdue payments and salaries.
The PA's Ministry of Health owes al-Makassed 6.7 million shekels ($2m) for three months' salaries to the hospital's workers and a total of 65 million shekels of debt ($19.7m), according to the hospital's administration.
Al-Makassed was founded in 1968 and became a lifeline for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank seeking necessary medical treatment.
On Monday, the workers' union and the administration in al-Makassed said they would cease to accept patients except in the accident and emergency department until the PA pays the salaries and part of its debt. They also said they would refuse to receive patients referred by the PA's Ministry of Health.
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Over the years, the PA had transferred critically ill patients to al-Makassed to receive specialised care, which the PA's hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza Strip lacked. In return, the PA would pay al-Makassed the treatment fees and the salaries of the medical workers.
However, the hospital had been sinking into debt, and it struggled in the past two years to provide healthcare for patients as cases of Covid-19 in Palestine and Israel increased.
In 2020, hospital staff warned that the hospital could shut its doors as its debts amounted to 160 million shekels ($47m).
Almost 60 million shekels ($18m) of these debts were owed to the hospital by the PA's health ministry, which covers patient referrals from the West Bank and Gaza.
The hospital also owed some $20m to medical supply companies and about $9m in taxes, Israeli health insurance and bank loans, staff told MEE in August 2020.
On Monday evening, al-Makassed agreed that the PA's Ministry of Health would pay 80 percent of April's salaries to the hospital's workers and 20 percent of the unpaid three months' wages before 2 May.
In 2021, the PA agreed to pay almost $2.7m of its debt to al-Makassed but discontinued after a few months. Al-Makassed criticised the PA's finance minister, Shukri Bishara, saying that he was responsible for the financial troubles of the hospital.
On Tuesday, Mai al-Kailah, the health minister, said that the PA would pay back $1.5m of its debt to al-Makassed.
The hospital came under immense pressure last week to provide medical care for Palestinians wounded by Israeli forces who stormed al-Aqsa Mosque and assaulted worshippers on a near-daily basis.
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