The protesting doctors, nurses and other personnel said the administration of the state-run hospital located in Yerevan’s Nork district has told them to sign letters asking for the termination of their contracts.
“This is so offensive,” said one of the workers who have been at the forefront of Armenia’s fight against the coronavirus.
“During the pandemic [Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinian and [former Health Minister Arsen] Torosian repeatedly came here to applaud us. Now nobody needs us anymore,” complained another.
Ashot Sargsian, the deputy director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, said the more than 80 medics were only notified that they may be laid off because one of the hospital buildings where they work will soon be partly shut down for capital repairs.
Health authorities are now looking into the possibility of finding temporary employment for all or some of the affected workers in other hospitals, Sargsian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
The hospital director, Vartan Avagian, promised such jobs to the protesters when he met with them later in the day. They returned to work as a result.
The Armenian Ministry of Health likewise said that the hospital administration is now considering transferring redundant staff to other medical centers.
In a statement, the ministry also said the reconstruction, which is scheduled to start on February 1, will turn the Nork hospital into a medical facility “corresponding to modern standards.”
The hospital has mainly treated COVID-19 patients since the spring of 2020.