Crisis of Healthcare Staff Shortage in Hamadan; Officials Warn Instead of Solving the Problem

According to academic officials in Hamadan province, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences is in a critical situation regarding nursing and medical staff. The president of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences warned that the ongoing shortage of staff is making it harder to provide services to patients in this province. The website Khabaronline quoted Behrouz Karkhanai stating that the shortage of staff and high workload have made it difficult to provide 'optimal services' to patients. This university official emphasized that the status of this university in terms of nursing and medical staff is 'critical' and the current conditions for payment of claims are 'not befitting for the healthcare staff.' Reports indicate that the human resources situation in the healthcare sector in other provinces is also not bright, and recently nurses have again held protests against their poor living conditions and unpaid claims. In this context, on March 7, and continuing the protests of nurses in various provinces of the country regarding low wages and the authorities' neglect of their livelihoods, a number of nurses and staff at Arya Hospital in Ahvaz protested. The ILNA news agency reported that some nurses, administrative staff, and service workers at Arya Hospital in Ahvaz went on strike for the second consecutive day in protest of their wage conditions. Similarly, some nurses in Zanjan province also went on strike in protest of their poor living conditions and unpaid claims. At Milad Hospital in Tehran, nurses and hospital staff held a protest against reduced salaries. Ongoing issues in the healthcare sector, along with the authorities' neglect of this issue, have led to a significant portion of healthcare staff leaving this sector. Reports indicate that a significant number of these individuals have either turned to other activities or have emigrated. In this regard, a representative of the nursing community stated that '4,000 nurses leave their jobs in Iran annually, and 50,000 nurses are unemployed' due to low wages and harsh working conditions. Mohammad Sharifi Moghaddam, the Secretary-General of the Nursing House, mentioned in an interview with Khabaronline on February 19 of this year financial misconduct in the nursing budget, stating that 'money was withdrawn from the National Development Fund in the name of nursing, but this money went elsewhere and was not paid to nurses.' This union official stated that nurses who protest low wages face threats, summons to disciplinary boards, and security measures. Sharifi Moghaddam, like the president of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, warned about the shortage of nurses and healthcare staff, stating that Iran's healthcare system is facing a nursing shortage crisis, and according to World Health Organization standards, there should be at least 3 nurses for every 1,000 people. However, in Iran, this number is 1.7 nurses, which is less than neighboring countries like Armenia and Georgia. The previous round of protests by nurses in public hospitals in various cities of Iran began in September of this year and continued for weeks. In their protests, nurses have demanded the realization of their claims such as 'reform of the payment system in the Ministry of Health,' 'elimination of discrimination from the minimal increase in nursing fees,' 'cancellation of mandatory overtime,' 'prompt payment of arrears,' 'reduction of workload through hiring nurses,' and 'improvement of unsafe working conditions.'