Doctors and Nurses Dismissed, Some Having Fought the Pandemic on the Frontlines

Forty medical staff at the Xianyang Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Shaanxi Province were dismissed on April 30. They were asked to sign a statement of “voluntary resignation.” Among them, 26 nurses had been to Hubei Province, the epicenter of the CCP virus, to fight the pandemic on the frontline. They have not received any bonuses so far for risking their lives; instead, what was waiting for them was a layoff disguised as “voluntary resignation.” A medical professional of the hospital released a video on May 1, asking hospital authorities to give everyone a reasonable explanation. Video: “On May 1, Labor Day, a holiday that advocates for the protection of employees’ rights and interests, 40 medical staff from the Xianyang Maternal and Child Health Hospital received a ‘resignation application’ that they were asked to sign. We originally thought this outbreak might be a turning point for medical staff to get better wages and earn more respect, but the reality has taught us we were too naive. We were hailed as heroes for a short period of time, but that did not bring any fundamental change. “Within my network, I know that some nurses who have worked on the frontline have applied to change their status from temporary to permanent employees of the hospital, there are also frontline nurses whose only hope was to keep their jobs. We hope that Xianyang Maternal and Child Health Hospital will give us a reasonable explanation. Why did the hospital authorities decide to get rid of these medical staff who had been sent to the frontline of the pandemic? “I also hope that the so-called ‘benefits’ we received when fighting the virus will not be the highest standard for us medical staff in this lifetime.” Conclusion: The statement of “voluntary resignation” forced them to claim that “I want to resign due to personal reasons” and “I promise that I will not pursue any compensation from the hospital with any excuse.” The hospital authorities announced on their official blog on April 30 that the layoff was a decision made in November last year in response to “shrinking operations,” and the execution had been delayed because of the CCP virus pandemic. “Any distorted report about our layoff will likely be used by foreign anti-China forces to incite public opinion,” the hospital announcement wrote, as a warning message to anyone who attempts to question the layoffs. In the chat message she showed in her video, a nurse complained that they worked 12 hours a day from January 25 to late March, but their wage was based on 8 hours a day, and the extra bonus for working on the frontline was only 100 yuan ($14.2) a month.