Unemployed heroes: SP ignoring health professionals, says union

With the decline in the number of cases and deaths from Covid-19 in the state of São Paulo, health professionals who were hired on an emergency basis during the most dangerous moments of the epidemic have been gradually excluded. Says Celia Regina Costa, who works for the General Secretariat of the São Paulo State Public Workers’ Union SindSaúde-SP.

Among the laid-off workers are nursing assistants, nurses, physiotherapists and young doctors who were called to work immediately in field hospitals and Covid intensive care units (ICUs) installed to treat patients infected with the virus. Celia, who also works in the administrative part of the State Civil Service Hospital in southern São Paulo, says she has received constant notification about these layoffs.

They were kicked out as if they were nobody. They cared for human life, suffered there with the patient, and took a risk, only to be disposed of today,” he concludes.

The nursing assistant, who preferred not to be named, shares the same sentiment. He says that in June of this year, he was called to work immediately in the Covid ICU at Taipas General Hospital, north of São Paulo, and three months later, the entire sector was dismantled.

According to him, after the Covid ICU shutdown was announced “just like that”, around 90 employees were laid off. “I was so upset because we were all out there exposing ourselves, taking risks, doing our best, and now we’re out of work.”

However, the state government of São Paulo informed, on September 20, that it would do so Employing 1,070 health professionals To meet the growing demand for other services, in addition to Covid-19 cases. According to the state’s health minister, Jan Gornstein, there has been an investment of R$1.2 billion in Santas Casas and state charitable hospitals.

“But when will these vacancies appear?” Ask Raynara Nunes, who has worked for a year and two months in a state hospital in Piracicaba, in the interior of São Paulo. The physiotherapist says R7 who has been sending her resume since she was fired two months ago and so far has only been able to do one interview.

“I worked for years in a clinic that closed at the beginning of the pandemic, so I had the opportunity to work in this hospital. I learned a lot there, adapted to the rules, saw a lot of people die during the red phase and it wasn’t easy. Then they just said they would need to put some away. people, and I was among them.”

Emergency Recruitment

In April 2020, at the beginning of the epidemic caused by Covid-19, the government of São Paulo announced First emergency hiring of health professionals To help in state hospitals. Initially there will be 1,185 workers, but those numbers increased as the pandemic progressed.

These emergency recruitment processes have been done through public tenders and even streamlined selection processes, so that they can be done as quickly as possible. Over time, these public tenders became practically extinct and the government started paying offshore companies so they could hire the workforce, explains Celia, who works for SindSaúde-SP.

The government was working on business logic. So, “x” pays a company and that company employs a workforce that is distributed to hospitals,” he says.

Nursing assistant who R7 He was also interviewed that his contract was signed through an offshore company. He says no one was notified in advance about the layoffs and that there was some chaos when it came to termination of contracts. “They haven’t yet signed my resignation on the work permit, I received my late termination and took too long to deposit the food and meal vouchers,” he said.

Despite this, professionals are counting on the government’s promise to implement more contracts, “especially since Covid is not over yet and there are other diseases and comorbidities that we have been trained to treat. We need action”, concludes Raynara Nunes.

What does the state government say?

wanted by R7 To obtain a position on the issue, the state government of Sao Paulo has reported that the mass layoff reports are incorrect and that professionals who have been dismissed due to the closure of field hospitals and ICU-Covid departments have temporary contracts.

The government office also indicated that more health professionals are being recruited to meet other types of demand. He explains that “expectations indicate that recruitment will continue until December, and professionals will be allocated in services with increased demand and the need to strengthen the medical staff.”

* Trainee under the supervision of Ingrid Faya