Report notes shortages at many island hospitals
The only intensive care unit on the Ionian island of Cephalonia is closed because there’s no one to staff it and the hospital on Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands, is operating with just half the doctors it should have, a recent report by the Public Hospital Workers Federation (POEDIN) shows.
Sounding the alarm over serious staff shortages at many island health centers, POEDIN noted that the problem is most acute with specialized doctors and staff such as ambulance workers. It also warned that Covid-19 vaccination programs are adding to the strain.
Among the more striking examples cited are that of Mykonos, which calls in EMTs from Athens to cover its ambulance shifts, and Samos, where emergencies are addressed by physicians in practical training, while Santorini, whose population surges in the summer with seasonal workers and tourists, has just one pathologist.
