In Ecuador health workers start 2022 with job instability

In the Hospitals of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) and the Ministry of Health, as well as in that of the Armed Forces, health workers begin 2022 with the uncertainty of continuing in their positions and continuing with the fight against COVID -19, in full rebound of infected.

At the end of December 2021, the messages that augur a prosperous 2022 did not reach several doctors, nurses, nursing assistants and other health workers. They were even notified by WhatsApp messages that their contract will no longer be renewed.

This is the case of the doctors of the military units of the Armed Forces. 45 health workers did not have their contracts renewed this 2022, due to the ruling of the Constitutional Court, which declared unconstitutional the issuance of the appointment to doctors who were on the front line caring for patients with COVID-19 in the hardest months of the pandemic.

Today, despite the fact that a contest of merits and opposition for said appointment is in process, the military authorities decided to suspend it.

“By virtue of this and considering that there is no resolution to create positions, the Institution cannot start the contest of merits and opposition, which is why it is not immersed in any stage of the process referred to in the sentence”, says the official letter No. FT-DGTHE-TH-USTP-2021-14926-O.

They are not the only ones. At the Hospital del IESS del Sur de Quito, doctors, laboratorians and other professionals from this center have claimed instability in their positions, despite the fact that in this health house they were forced to expand the area to care for COVID-19 patients.

While in the San Francisco Hospital of the IESS they have renewed the doctors with occasional contracts, only for 60 days. That is, in March, his separation would take place. What the doctors demand is guarantees and job stability to continue fighting a pandemic that has not ended and that, despite the alerts from the authorities regarding the increase in cases, they have preferred to reduce personnel.