Covid-19: Private hospitals slash doctors’ salaries

KOLKATA: Several private hospitals in Kolkata have either enforced, or have asked senior doctors and other staff to voluntarily go for, pay cuts in order to offset an unprecedented dip in post-Covid revenues, and to ensure regular salaries for the junior staff.
While the pay cut ranges between 15% and 33% for some, others are yet to effect a slash, but are contemplating it next month.
The hospitals pointed out that the cuts will be restricted to senior medics on payroll and top-level administrative officers, while the rest of the staff — including consultants, who work on a ‘pay-for-service’ contract — will not be affected.
While there is no official figure available on this, a number of private hospitals in the city that are treating non-Covid ailments reported that their patient count has dropped to “a fourth” of their usual intake.
One of the hospitals here, which has around 200 doctors on payroll, has decided to slash salaries of its senior medics and administrative officials this month. “We have not yet fixed the percentage… It’s being worked out,” the CEO told TOI. “We are still trying to minimize the slash by exploring every other avenue to augment our earnings. But salaries of our junior doctors, officials and doctors working on pay-for-service basis will not be affected.”
Another private hospital has asked its senior doctors and directors to “donate” a part of their salary to make sure other staffers can be paid. A donation of 20%-33% has been suggested, depending on their pay package and designation. The doctors have reportedly agreed to it. Here, too, junior administrative staff and health workers have been spared.
A senior cardiologist said he has been expecting something like this. “With the pandemic still raging, it could take months more for things to normalize. In these circumstances, a salary slash was perhaps inevitable,” he said.
Another private hospital is planning a “variable slash” —bigger cuts for medics whose patient counts have dropped more sharply. “It’s the only way we can bail us out financially, to an extent,” said an official.
Some pay-for-service doctors, who are not on the payroll but receive a part of the consultation fees charged by the hospital from their patients, said they have not been paid in full this month.