Reorganizing the work of doctors

[NewsWhore]

The Vice President's Office and the Ministry of Public Health is working on a new structure aimed at merging hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health and the Dominican Social Security Institute. Currently, 1,215 doctors are on the payroll of these government institutions. Each of these physicians would be assigned to a single medical center, and wages would be increased to RD$45,000 plus incentives for productivity. The doctors would have six-hour working days, as many maintain their private practice. The new system would be restructured as the Public Health Network (Red Publica de Salud). Rosa Maria Suarez, spokeswoman for the program, told Listin Diario that physicians entering the system would have to sign contracts defining their responsibilities. The new scheme is mandated by Law 87-01 that created the Dominican Social Security System. The plan is to decentralize public hospitals and that each would be responsible for hiring their own staff and ensuring productivity. The system is expected to kick off in the south and north of the country in July.
Public Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez says it will be a democratic revolution of the public health system. The minister says that his position will no longer have "godlike" powers, and the decisions concerning each hospital's operation, including staff hiring, will be only in the hands of the hospital itself. The role of the ministry will just be to oversee the system, not appoint nor watch over the operation. Once in operation, the networks will hire about 3,000 new doctors.

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