Dialysis patients on the government-subsidized program at Belize Healthcare Partners Limited (BHPL), a private hospital, had good news to report this week, as the hospital’s management finally decided to re-hire Nurse Maria Ack Coc, who had resigned at the end of last year in protest.
Nurse Ack had made an appeal for the hospital to have a doctor, preferably a nephrologist, permanently available at the dialysis unit. The BHPL decided to hire a part-time nephrologist after they accepted her resignation, and resisted calls and public protests from patients to have her re-hired.
The outspoken Jose Cruz, a blind patient who is the leading advocate for the 21 people on the government program, told Amandala today that he is pleased with the developments; however, they would like to have BHPL’s commitments in writing.
BHPL’s public relations agent Collet Montejo told Amandala that Nurse Ack has been re-hired, but as for all staff on a new contract, she undergoes the six-month probation, but remains on the same salary as before.
Montejo also said that an internist, who he declined to name, has been assigned full-time to the unit, and there are three other internists who will be working on rotation, as well as a pediatrician to deal with the three to four cases of juvenile diabetes on their hands.
*As a side matter, Cruz noted that the raffle of a house lot, which had been slated for December 2009, has had to be postponed until Easter, because he had to travel to Guatemala for medical attention.