Mater Hospital sends staff on leave at half pay
Mater Hospital employees will take a pay cut for the next four months in a move aimed at cutting costs as the coronavirus pandemic bites.
A letter to staff said the reduction takes effect next month.
In the letter, Mater Hospital said its workers will have to take a pay cut due to the tough operating environment.
“All staff will, unfortunately, take a pay cut in the month of June, July, August and September in a graduated scale according to their pay. Details will be communicated in the individual letters,” read a statement by Mater Hospital’s CEO, Professor Dominic Mwenja.
Some employees will also be sent on unpaid leave. However, the hospital said they will receive half of their salaries to cushion them.
The staff members will alternate the leave periods on a month by month basis from June to September when the situation will be reviewed.
The hospital management said levels of patients have reduced drastically and asked its employees to understand the “desperate situation that we are all in.”
“Additionally, since patient numbers have reduced drastically, we will remain at an optimal operation level. This means that we will send a considerable number of staff on unpaid leave but cushion them with 50 per cent of the new graduated salary. The groups will alternate accordingly i.e. (one month on leave and the following month on duty),” said the Hospital.
The government on Monday raised concerns with reports that many Kenyans have stopped going to hospitals for fear of contracting Covid-19.
Health CAS Dr Mercy Mwangangi encouraged Kenyans who require medical services to go to hospitals as there are measures in place to protect both the doctors and patients from getting infected.
Earlier this month, the government said that it would be mandatory for inpatients to be tested for Covid-19 as a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of infections to healthcare workers in hospitals.