USAID helps Health Ministry zap 10,000 freeloaders from payroll

Santo Domingo.- The Public Health Ministry onThursday said it has yanked from its payroll some 10,000 people who were beingpaid without doing any work, reportedly in the area of ??Social Wellbeing,after a shakeup with the help of the US government.

Pape Gaye, representative of IntraHealth International,an organization which improves performance of health systems in more than 100countries, associated with the US Agency for International Development (USAID),said the payroll purge will save US$6 million (RD$279 million) annually, whichhe affirms is being used for hire new staff, improve health facilities and professional’ssalaries.

Gaye congratulated the government for puttinghealth at the center of the discussions, noting that it’s impossible for acountry to reach development goals if its health system isn’t attended; itsservers aren’t well paid and population’s equitable access to primary care isn’timproved.

The expert spoke during a meeting headed by Healthminster Altagracia Guzman and US ambassador James W. Brewster, to report on theprogress of the Capacity Plus program to improve the performance of more than11,000 health area workers.