US Health Care Workers Are Reporting Their Salaries Being Cut Due To Coronavirus

In pictures, front-line medical workers are rendered anonymous by masks, gloves, and medical suits. Just like superheroes. But contrary to their animated peers, they have no special powers. It’s easy to forget that saving lives, in the end, is just a job. And there’s a private life left behind all the coronavirus chaos.

As if it wasn’t hard enough already for ER personnel, one for-profit health company, reportedly, decided to cut down salaries. Cameron Beach, a concerned daughter from Illinois, shared the hopeless situation her ER doctor dad found himself in. Her tweet soon went viral with 55.8K retweets and 219.9K likes, and many joined the heated discussion. Some people even said the same thing had happened to them. Let’s dive into the thread down below.

Business Insider reports that most ER providers in the US work for staffing companies that have contracts with various hospitals. Amid the coronavirus crisis, hospitals have no choice but to postpone elective procedures and non-coronavirus patients tend to avoid the ER altogether. As a result, these companies are now losing revenue and looking for other ways to tighten the belts. Unfortunately, it may include benefits, paid time off, and salary cuts for medical workers.

But Scott Hickey, the president of the Virginia College of Emergency Physicians, warned that “these actions are unacceptable and unnecessary.” In a statement, he urged medical staffing groups to keep workers employed with federal support, as well as payroll relief and paycheck protection through the CARES Act. “We cannot afford to jeopardize the health of our patients by having understaffed emergency departments.”