With Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Nitesh Patil taking steps to sort out contentious issues pertaining to facilities extended to corona warriors at KIMS Hospital in Hubballi, staff nurses assured him of continuing their services.
Several staff nurses resorted to an agitation on Wednesday while declining to return to work unless issues raised by them were resolved. They were also upset with administrative officer Rajashree Jainapur of KIMS who, they said, had behaved arrogantly when they took their pleas to her. They withdrew their snap protest on Wednesday only after the Deputy Commissioner intervened and called them for a meeting at his office.
On Thursday, chairing a meeting of office-bearers of the KIMS Staff Nurses Association, Mr. Nitesh Patil showered praises on the staff nurses for their selfless service in the last four months and appealed to them to continue their selfless service during this time of crisis.
KIMS Hospital being the designated COVID-19 hospital has 250 beds for patients of the pandemic and now, to cater to the needs of patients from other districts, bed capacity is being increased to 500.
Mr. Patil told the association members that the demands of the staff would be met as per the government rules and Standard Operating Procedure.
All facilities
He told them that the administration would provide them requisite PPE kits, N-95 masks, food during working hours and resting time apart from including them under the government COVID-19 insurance scheme.
To ensure better coordination, the government had agreed to depute staff on rotation basis and the list of staff on COVID-19 duty would be sent to the government, he said and added that all demands of the KIMS Staff would be considered and communicated to KIMS Director.
Director of KIMS Ramalingappa Antarathani, who was present in the meeting, said that there would be no discrimination while meeting the demands of the staff nurses. He lauded the services of the staff and appealed that they continue to extend their cooperation in the coming days in fighting the pandemic.
Following their assurances, a representative of KIMS Staff Association Subhash Shellikeri told the meeting that the staff would continue their work as they did before. He said that justice had been delivered to the staff nurses.