A sickout by over 40 staff at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority (KHMHA) reportedly disrupted essential services on Tuesday, but management is saying that the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) remained fully operational.
KHMHA Public Relations Manager Tylon Tillett refuted a report by Facebook blog Belize News Network (BNN) which claimed nurses abandoned critically ill babies in the NICU.
Tillet called the report “totally false and misleading.” He said, “As the Public Relations Manager of the KHMHA, I am appalled at the level of skull duggery this so-called media network has stooped to,” he said.
“I urge the public to not be mislead by an obvious political arm that slanders the professionalism of the nation’s national referral center in protection of political interests,” Tillett added.
According to Tillet, “All the staff of the NICU was present today… 8 nurses cared for 13 babies.”
Meanwhile, the CEO of the KHMHA, Chandra Nisbet-Cansino formally declared a trade dispute with the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital Authority Workers’ Union (KHMHAWU) and requested the establishment of an Essential Services Arbitration Tribunal.
Cansino accused the KHMHA Workers’ Union (KHMHAWU) of “violating the law” and “putting the safety of patients at risk” after the reported sickout. “Despite an offer being made for their consideration, the KHMHAWU has proceeded with industrial action as opposed to negotiation,” Cansino said on Tuesday in a letter to the Minister of Labour.