JEDDAH, 20 June — King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center cannot pay its staff more than 10 percent of the salaries they are due for the last working month, it was disclosed to Arab News last night.
According to informed sources, some SR500 million in outstanding debt is owed to the hospital. Employees have been told that there is the possibility that a number of them will be laid off.
The full extent of the financial crisis was described at a staff meeting on Tuesday, when the employees were informed that although their exit visas and tickets home would be honored there was no guarantee that they would be paid their outstanding salaries.
A circular obtained by Arab News warned that no end-of-service bonus (ESB) would be paid to staff who decided to leave.
King Faisal Specialist Hospital is one of two hospitals with Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA) in Saudi Arabia. The award confirmed the hospital’s status as one of the very best in the world. It was founded two years ago.
A doctor at the hospital said: "In two years of intense pressure and effort by the medical staff chasing the JCIA award, mundane considerations like ensuring that there is enough cash to pay salaries have been marginalized."
So desperate are the circumstances of some of the staff that the hospital is providing them with free food and phone calls to their homes around the world.
Indications of a crisis have been apparent for some time. "Salaries which used to be paid on time were delayed for the past four months," said one nurse.
Another added: "The workload per person has increased and often even doctors have been asked to double up on jobs with no extra payment."
Recently, there was a reduction in the housing allowance as a percentage of the basic salary imposed on staff as another austerity measure.
In an attempt to generate cash flow, the hospital opened an after-hours private pay clinic and in-patient ward.
This put the hospital, which was under the umbrella of the government for the last two years, in competition with commercial hospitals and clinics.
An experienced non-medical member of the staff told Arab News: "It was a good idea, but it was run by management with absolutely no commercial experience, so it never became a commercial success."
The mood of the staff varies from loyalty to intense worry.
In the queue that formed at the bank in the hospital, many nurses said that they would stay through thick and thin.
"It will be a tough month, but we will see it out. After that ... well, we all have bills to pay and we must have the salary," she said.
