Hospital workers cancel all elective surgery

In related news, the Belize Medical and Dental Union, which represents employees from the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital and district hospitals has announced plans to take industrial action. As an essential service, the doctors and nurses say they will continue to provide adequate health care, however the BMDU says, “in solidarity with the present movement, we have decided to temporarily suspend all elective surgical procedures and elective out patient clinics”. In other words, effective today, anything not considered an emergency or life threatening injury will not be treated. In a press release issued this morning, the BMDU stated that the reason for its action is the need for “urgent political reform in the management of public funds and for fair and just wages.” The release also called for a tax structure that ensures “a more equitable distribution of the country’s wealth”.