24025: (pub) Chamberlain: Haiti-Hospital Strike (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By AMY BRACKEN

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 4 (AP) -- Doctors at Haiti's largest public hospital
extended a weeklong strike Tuesday to protest overdue paychecks, leaving
dozens of victims of violence and other emergencies struggling to find
care.
   All 75 resident doctors walked off the job last week because the
government has not paid their salaries for three months, said Albert
Camille Archange, director of the General Hospital in the capital,
Port-au-Prince.
   The doctors, who make about $145 a month, extended the strike Tuesday
after the government ignored their demands. The hospital's 65 interns were
also on strike out of solidarity with the residents.
   The doctors were also protesting the Health Ministry's decision to
accept private school students in the residency program, fearing it would
bring unfair competition to graduates of the State University.
   Michael Leandre, a health ministry director, promised the doctors would
be paid Wednesday. He blamed the delay on the hospital's failure to provide
a list of residents until late December.
   The strike comes amid sporadic political violence that has killed more
than 100 people since Sept. 30, when supporters of ousted President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide stepped up protests to demand his return from exile
in South Africa. Much of the violence is concentrated in the capital's
slums, which are strongholds of armed pro-Aristide gangs.