Getting Paid On Time In Puerto Rico

September 2007

Dr. Abymeal Frontanes is interviewed by news radio station WAPA.

CIR members employed by the Puerto Rico Department of Health provide medical care to people who live in the commonwealth’s metropolitan center and rural outskirts. Given the vital service they provide, it would seem reasonable for these hard-working resident physicians to expect to receive their pay for this work in a timely fashion.

This was not the case in May, 2007, when housestaff working at three hospitals abruptly stopped receiving their paychecks without explanation. They continued caring for their patients, but after more than a month of working without pay, they felt compelled to take action. The residents decided to bring the issue to the public’s attention, by calling simultaneous press conferences on June 20 at Raúl Arnau University Hospital in Bayamón, and St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital in Ponce.

On the morning of the 20th, the Health Department called the local CIR office to inform the residents that checks had been cut and sent out for the full amount owed. Despite having successfully forced the Health Department to comply with their immediate demands, CIR members decided to continue with the press events as scheduled, to bring to light the ordeal they had endured, prevent further lapses in payroll, and raise awareness about the struggles resident physicians face. Between the two press conferences, CIR members received coverage from all of Puerto Rico’s major newspapers, radio stations, and TV news programs.

“We are mothers and fathers with families who perform a service for which we receive a salary that, although being lower than those of our fellow residents at other institutions, helps us with our economic responsibilities like any other citizen,” said Dr. José Pizarro Otero, a CIR leader at University Hospital in Bayamón. “We work out of love for our profession, but that alone doesn’t put food on the table, or help to purchase your books.”