Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital CEO: ‘We do not want to be enemies with the workers union’

By Benjamin Flowers: Today, Chief Executive Officer of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital, Chandra Nisbet-Cansino, held a press conference addressing a number of issues raised by the KHMH Workers Union(KHMHWU), stressing that the hospital’s board of directors wants to work with instead of against the union.

Cansino’s press conference came just hours after the Union held its conference, to vent its frustrations regarding the working conditions at the KHMH. Cansino said that she and the other directors were disappointed at the way the conference was handled, as they did not know it was being planned until late yesterday.

“We are here to work with the union. We do not want them as an adversary, we want them as a partner,” Cansino said. “Yes we were caught blindsided by the actions and that’s regretful but that does not mean we are in any way pursuing an adversarial relationship with the union because we need them and they need us.”

Addressing the concerns of the union, Cansino explained that the hospital had been having issues with the procurement of supplies for a number of reasons including global shortages brought on by the COID-19 pandemic, a number of items from the essential supplies list being tender items that are procured by the Ministry of Health and Wellness which is facing its own procurement problems, and the fact that the hospital is struggling to bring in revenue via collections from those who access its services.

Cansino noted that the $2.4 million subvention given by the Government of Belize is almost entirely consumed each month on salaries for the hospital’s over 700 employees, leaving very little to assist with the procurement of supplies. She also rebutted the notion that the hospital’s roof is posing imminent danger of collapse, while acknowledging that the roof does in fact leak.

“We certainly, most definitely have arrived at that point yet…No the hospital is not falling down,” Cansino added.

Acknowledging that instances have occurred where nurses have had to purchase their own sterile gloves and surgical tape to care for patients, Cansino said that the management will seek to have discussions with nurses about reimbursement for those purchases and that the hospital authority maintains an open-door policy with the union going forward to address whatever issues they may have.

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