Beirut hospital plagued by political bickering: health minister

BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abu Faour Tuesday hinted that political bickering may be disrupting operations at the state-owned Rafik Hariri University Hospital, which recently witnessed a week-long strike by staff and the resignation of a top official.

“Certain political bickering does exist [at RHUH],” Abu Faour told local daily Al-Akhbar. He did not elaborate.

Al-Akhbar, however, quoted a hospital official as saying the squabbling was over refusal of the Health Ministry and the hospital management to sign contracts with 20 doctors.

The official said a basket of demands put forward by both the Amal Movement and the Future Movement, which Abu Faour rejected, was the primary cause of the crisis.

But in the same article, Abu Faour denied that either group made such demands.

Al-Akhbar said the reason for not holding council meetings goes back to a boycott by council members, who have refused the appointment of pro-Future Movement Mohammad Karaki to head the hospital’s purchasing department.

The Christians claim that the post belongs to them, the report said.

Abu Faour criticized Faysal Shatila, who recently resigned as the chief of the hospital’s board.

“He [Shatila] did not know how to exploit the skills of the outstanding council members,” he said.

Abu Faour also lamented the fact that Shatila refrained from holding necessary council meetings.

Abu Faour announced last week that he accepted Shatila’s resignation, saying it allowed for the implementation of a “rescue plan” to save the hospital.

Shatila told Al-Akhbar he had held 29 council meetings over a period of eight months and that he refrained from holding sessions for one month only over the Christian boycott.

He said a settlement had been reached at the time after Karaki's resignation.

Al-Akhbar said a crisis over delayed payments was expected to be resolved soon as RHUH staff had been promised to receive their January paychecks Tuesday.

It quoted sources close to Abu Faour as describing the relationship between the health minister and Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil as excellent.

RHUH staff quoted Abu Faour as saying Khalil has allocated LL5 billion ($3.3 million) to fund their salaries.

RHUH employees called off their strike over late-salary payments Monday following a meeting with Abu Faour.