She said that €7 million will be granted for raising salaries to obstetricians and midwives from April 1 till the end of this year. The hourly wage for obstetricians will be increased from €5.05 to €7.58 and the wage to midwives will grow from €3.50 an hour to €4.58. These salaries comprise financing both from the Health Ministry and the maternity hospital.
Dagnija Vilnite, CEO of the Riga Maternity Hospital, said efforts will continue to have the wage tariffs revised again in 2018. The health minister will support the increase of wage tariffs next year, she added.
Even though their salaries had been raised only by half of what they had hoped for, the staff of the Riga Maternity Hospital feels positive about the outcome. It is the largest pay rise that obstetricians and midwives had seen during the seven years I had been working as the hospital's CEO, Vilnite said.
She also said that the efforts to push for higher salaries to the medical personnel continued and employees of other medical institutions should not begrudge the staff of the Riga Maternity Hospital this pay rise.
As reported, the Riga Maternity Hospital staff demanded higher wages, threatening to cut their shifts, including on weekends and holidays, or even leave jobs if their wages aren't increased.
Obstetricians in other hospitals in Latvia have also complained to the Health Ministry about low pay, shortage of young medical specialists and inadequate pay for overtime work.
