The move of private hospital managements to close down hospitals from Monday will lead to a serious crisis in the health care sector, Health Minister K.K. Shylaja has said.
Talking to the media here on Thursday, the Minister said the government would ask the managements to go back on their decision in the backdrop of the nurses’ stir.
She said shutting down of private hospitals would not be permitted under any circumstances considering the rise in viral fever cases across the State.
The government stance was in favour of nurses and the pressure tactics of the managements would not work, Ms. Shylaja said. The department would take appropriate action in consultation with the Chief Minister.
The Minister said the government’s health care centres alone would not be enough to meet the people’s needs, especially at a time when the State was in the grip of viral fever.
The government had limitations in increasing the wages of nurses and, even then, had strived to fix it at ₹20,806, she said.
The Minister said the nurses and the hospital managements should not forget their social responsibility.