News from the Region
International Aid Cuts Endanger Refugee Hospital
By Paul Pierce, Quaker International Affairs Representative
The decision by international donors to suspend funding for the Palestinian Authority (PA) following the election of Hamas to the leadership of the Palestinian Legislative Council has begun to have devastating effect on the Palestinian health care system. One example of this can be seen at the Augusta Victoria Hospital, a facility which provides critically needed services to Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem.
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| Augusta Victoria Hospital Photo: Paul Pierce |
The hospital, which has been operated by the Lutheran World Federation since 1950, was already facing difficulties before the suspension of international aid. Patients and hospital employees have faced difficulty reaching the hospital, due to construction of the Separation Wall nearby. In addition, West Bank patients must navigate a complicated permit process and dozens of police and army checkpoints and road closures imposed by the Israeli authorities to travel to the hospital.
However, the recent cut in international aid following the Palestinian elections may result in an even worse scenario - cuts in hospital services.
The decision by the Israeli government to withhold tax revenues they have collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority means $200-300,000 per month in insurance payments are not being received by the hospital. In all, nearly $900,000 dollars in revenue has been lost in the past three months. Salaries have not been paid to hospital personnel and the emergency room is now closed at night due to insufficient funds. Dr. Tawfiq Nassar, the CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital, said hard decisions are now being considered.
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| Dr. Tawfiq Nassar Photo: Paul Pierce |
“It’s as if an elderly patient in the United States walked into a hospital and received treatment, and the hospital discovers that Medicare is broke,” he said. “We are now forced to take drastic measures and consider cuts in services. We have now closed our emergency room because people can’t get to it because of checkpoints and so on”.
Dr. Nassar explained that the Palestinian Authority contracts with Augusta Victoria Hospital for many services and in return the hospital bills the National Insurance System of the Palestinian Authority. That agency now lacks the funds to pay for patient services.
“The Palestinian Authority is not just a political party. The PA is a large provider of services. They own hospitals, they own schools. And what services they don’t own they contract out through their insurance and referral system,” said Nassar.
The hospital provides critically needed cancer treatments, pediatric kidney dialysis, gastroenterology care, and ear, nose and throat surgery. It has exclusive contracts with the Palestinian government to provide these services to their patients.
“Now the issue is no longer downsizing,” Dr. Nassar explained. “The issue is whether to be or not to be because we have already lost one-sixth of our annual budget, and we wonder how long we can continue. Within a month or two we will be looking at a catastrophic situation where we can no longer treat patients, provide services or employ staff at the hospital.”
It is becoming increasingly clear that the goal of cutting of international aid is “regime change” within the PA – to undermine the Hamas-led legislature to point that it collapses. In the process, thousands, if not millions, of Palestinians are losing access to daily necessities including food and health care. Dr. Nasser sums up, “We will not compromise on our position that patient care and medicine should not be the vehicle to bring about the downfall of any government. And this is the key. The unfortunate thing that is not understood around the world is this: do what you may, but don’t use the vulnerable, the marginalized, and the elderly patients to bring about a political result, whether or not we want the government to be in existence or bring about the downfall of the government. To use patients, education and healthcare as pressure points hurts the victim. In the end you’re hurting the marginalized, and this is the humanitarian catastrophe."
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