Health Ministry refers JMA stipend demands to Cabinet

AMMAN — According to the Jordan Medical Association (JMA), the Ministry of Health has recently referred the association’s demands in regard to doctors’ stipends to the Cabinet. 

The demands are part of a 2022 agreement between the JMA and the Health Ministry, demanding adherence to disbursing specialty, overtime, transport and vehicle acquisition stipends for doctors’ at public hospitals, JMA board member Maha Fakhoury told The Jordan Times. 

A Health Ministry study revealed that this step could entail costs of around JD7 million, she added. 

If the Cabinet agrees to reimburse doctors’ retroactively for the first five months of 2023, the cost will increase by roughly JD3 million, according to Fakhoury. 

“JD7 or JD10 million isn’t a high cost to retain and prevent competent and experienced doctors at public hospitals from emigrating in search of better employment opportunities,” she said, noting that the ministry’s budget for 2023 increased by JD100 million.

The agreement was supposed to go into effect at the beginning of this year. However, only the transport stipend has been approved so far, provided that it is disbursed gradually based on seniority, and not to all doctors at once, she added. 

So far, around 2,000 doctors received the stipend roughly one month ago, and the rest are set to receive it in batches before the end of this year, she continued. 

There are roughly 6,500 doctors employed at the Ministry of Health’s hospitals and health centres, according to Fakhoury. 

The JMA is also demanding that the government include the specialty or technical stipend in the calculation of doctors’ social security and retirement plans, she said. 

Moreover, Fakhoury pointed out that there is a Health Ministry committee, usually composed of between 15 and 25 elected doctors who work at public hospitals, that monitors the demands and concerns of doctors working at ministry hospitals and clinics.

The JMA’s board has also signed an agreement with the Social Security Investment Fund  this month to conduct an actuarial study on its debt-laden retirement fund, Fakhoury said. 

The study is expected to be completed within six months to help the JMA better understand ways to manage the fund’s indebtedness, she explained.