In midst of war, Lebanon’s hospitals lack supplies, staff

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The situation in Lebanon’s hospitals, already suffering from economic instability and staff shortages, is worsening as the conflict with Israel escalates, a senior health official told Rudaw.

“The crisis began before the war. The healthcare crisis started due to the economic crisis in the country, which has affected hospitals in multiple ways. One main issue is the loss of nurses because they are the backbone of the hospital. Many have moved to the private sector or emigrated outside of Lebanon,” said Jihad Saada, the head of Beirut’s Rafic Hariri hospital.

The shortage of staff is coupled with the influx of inexperienced staff who studied online during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Saada, who said the new workers’ skill level is not up to previously-held standards.

Saada also said the hospitals face the issue of a shortage of medical supplies, exacerbated by problems with cash flow and currency exchange.

The shortage of supplies “is particularly challenging because we collect payments in Lebanese pounds, but we pay for medical supplies and medications in US dollars at the market rate. Our suppliers require cash on delivery, while we receive delayed payments from the Ministry of Health, which is time-consuming. As a result, the hospital’s budget has been strained, leading to some shortages in our stock and maintenance, which require funding,” he said.

After nearly a year of war in the Gaza Strip, Israel has now intensified its conflict with Lebanon as it seeks to remove pro-Iran Hezbollah fighters from southern Lebanon and allow tens of thousands of Israelis displaced by the Lebanese group’s rocket and drone strikes to return safely to their homes.

Despite the large influx of casualties from the war, Saada said their hospital is accustomed to war injuries because of Lebanon’s conflict-riddled history.

“We are the largest hospital in Lebanon in terms of bed count, and we are able to handle the current demand. We are accustomed to war injuries since the early days of the civil war in Beirut, so we’re prepared… Since the pagers explosion until now, we have ensured that, for example, the emergency room is cleared within 30 minutes of a large influx of patients,” Saada said.

On Monday, the Lebanese health ministry said that 3,002 people have been killed in the conflict and at least 13,492 have been injured. 

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated in October that 1.2 million people in Lebanon have been displaced.