Press Release of the Coordinating Committee of Agencies for the Karystos Hospital

COORDINATING COMMITTEE OF AGENCIES

Against the downgrading of the Karystos Hospital

With a large participation of the people of the municipality of Karystos, who filled the hall of the Yokaleion Foundation, the meeting-gathering against the degradation of the Karystos Hospital took place on Sunday, November 12.

The Coordinating Committee welcomes our fellow citizens who participated in the gathering expressing their concern and indignation at the degradation of our Hospital, which is already taking place with the departure of doctors, with the lack of an administrator for 8 months, with the shortages in medical, nursing and other staff.

The Coordinating Committee warmly thanks everyone who attended. Specifically, the Director of Chalkida Hospital, Mr. Chronaios, the Member of Parliament for Evia, Mr. Giorgos Marinos, the President of the Federation of Trade Associations of Evia, Ms. Voula Agiostratiti and the representative of the Evia Medical Association Ms. Garnet Civica. We also thank for their letters the Member of Parliament of Evia Mr. Simos Kedikoglou, the Karystian Brotherhood of Athens, the Panneuvoic Association Chicago USA and the Employees' Association of the Chalkida General Hospital. On the contrary, the absence of Mayor Karystos caused a negative impression.

The coordination and mobilization of all of us has so far resulted in the announcement of positions for four doctors. However, these positions do not cover all vacancies, nor is it guaranteed that doctors will come immediately or that the announcements will not come out barren.

We continue our struggle in order to stop the degradation of our Hospital, to implement our requests:

1. To immediately hire doctors, of the same grade, to replace the medical specialties that left recently. They are: two Orthopedists, Cardiologist, Anesthesiologist, Nephrologist.
2. To plan the immediate replacement of those who will soon leave. They are: Pediatrician, Ophthalmologist.
3. Care should be taken for the recruitment of General Practitioners so that the Hospital's on-call hours are adequately covered.
4. To appoint, immediately, a Governor to our Hospital, so that the doctors can carry out their vital services unhindered and do not perform administrative duties.
5. To ensure state funding for the construction and operation of the Artificial Kidney Unit.
6. To make the contract workers permanent at the Karystos Hospital, in order to ensure its smooth operation and the offering of its services to all the people of the region.
7. To cover all vacancies in medical, nursing, administrative and other personnel. In our time, it is not a luxury to have a Pediatrician on duty for seven days, nor to cover our villages with rural doctors.
8. To improve the salaries of the employees at the Hospital. To give the unhealthy allowance and all the cuts imposed by the memoranda.

In the coming days, the Coordinating Committee will meet and collectively decide the next steps of our action, while awaiting a response from the Ministry of Health to our request for a meeting.

Karystos, November 13th 2023