Santa Casa de Misericordia in Porto Alegre has separated the entire obstetric sector, with the exception of doctors who are on leave or on vacation. The layoffs took place between Tuesday and Wednesday due to financial problems, and the operation was under the responsibility of an offshore company, which employs professionals without a working relationship. On Tuesday, the obstetric emergency ended up shutting down, according to the hospital, due to “professionals infected with the Covid virus and difficulties in completing the installation on the scale.” However, the dismissed doctors claimed that there was no infection in the maternity ward, and that the reason for the closure was simply the difficulty of providing a full team with the company.
Dr. Rui Soares Silvera, who worked as a supervisor on maternity duty and on-call, worked for 35 years in the Santa Casa sector. And he was summoned, Tuesday, to appear in the administrative sector, where he was dismissed from work. “I thought it was a one-time thing, but it was for everyone. They did a mass layoff, every 10 minutes, starting at 7:30 in the morning,” he says. According to him, most professionals were dismissed between Tuesday and Wednesday, and those on vacation will be dismissed and leave upon their return. “They argued that for the maternity hospital to return with any revenue, they had to cut costs, and then cut costs by firing all the staff,” he says.
The changes at the hospital began about a month ago, Silvera says, when Promed was hired to cover shifts, which has always worked with four people during the day and three at night. According to the former supervisor, on January 1, the service only worked with professionals hired by Santa Casa, as the company was unable to find doctors to do their homework. Also according to him, when Promed began work on site, the foundation’s board assured that there would be a mix, with half of the service working with the existing team and the other half being outsourced. I think my resignation would have lasted longer, not least because I was in a supervisory position, but the rest of the group totally surprised her. Even because, at one of these meetings, he was asked if there was a possibility of layoffs, and the answer was no.”
One of the dismissed doctors, who preferred to remain anonymous, reported that immediately after the layoff, it was already difficult to close the work schedule. According to her, the company sent messages in a WhatsApp group offering obstetric shifts for 12 hours for R$1800, but did not find enough specialists. “They closed the maternity ward and published a statement saying it was closed by those with Covid, but not really. It was closed because they simply separated people and they did not have a backup project,” he says.
The Federation regrets the “harassment” in Santa Casa
“Harassment,” as this type of practice is called — in reference to PJ, of the legal entity — has occurred in hospitals across Brazil, according to the director of the Obstetric Core at Rio Grande do Sul (SIMERS), Marcia Barbosa. “It’s a trend that, for cost reasons, is, however, cheap and expensive,” he says. In the case of Santa Casa, he says, the service that is a reference has been lost. “Suddenly, a very good typical structure was dismantled and doctors who didn’t even know Santa Casa, who had no connections, didn’t know the routines that had been followed over many years and studies over many years, walked in,” he explains.
The Simers manager also claims that hiring by this type of company usually leads to problems in closing shifts due to the difficulty of having professionals who do not have a working relationship. She also lamented that Santa Casa is conducting mass layoffs near the opening of Nora Teixeira Hospital, scheduled for the second semester, with a new maternity hospital. The construction was made possible in large part by donations from spouses Alexander Grinden and Nora Teixeira and is considered an important milestone for the foundation.
The hospital explains the chapter
call him People’s MailSanta Casa de Misericórdia stated that all measures are aimed at ensuring the quality and safety of care for patients. Check out the full note below:
“All decisions made by Santa Casa management focus on ensuring the quality and safety of their patients. In light of the revision of the contract method, the Foundation implemented on Tuesday (4/1) the dismissal of 22 obstetricians, who were replaced on the same day by a new team, a new contract formula, a legal relationship and who will do it. Be responsible for maintaining the services normally.
On the new team’s first day, two other conditions affected attendance: the first, which identified low attendance, was overcrowding in the neonatal intensive care unit; The second case involved staff downsizing due to the pre-identification of two Covid-19 contaminated professionals. Entry of patients, however, had to be restricted, with only critical and urgent patients being cared for. This Wednesday, the neonatal intensive care unit is still overcrowded, which requires that restrictions be maintained, but the team of professionals has been replaced and continues to provide all necessary care.”
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