Staff at the Mais al-Jabal Public Hospital in the southern Lebanese border area of Marjayoun shut down the facility Tuesday over unpaid salaries.
The National News Agency said employees gathered outside the hospital to protest a six-month salary delay.
"We place our suffering in the hands of those responsible for this great edifice located on the border with the Israeli enemy, which has offered health services for the [southerners],” said a statement read by Shadi Mazraani on behalf of the hospital staff, according to the NNA.
“Thus, we demand the payment of all our [unpaid] salaries and benefits,” the statement added.
The employees also demanded that cost-of-living increases be paid retroactively, in addition to helping them with their children’s tuition fees.
The statement said the hospital is stuck in a financial deficit and called on Health Minister Wael Abu Faour to take the matter into his own hands.
At the end of the statement, the protesters locked the gate to the hospital.
Phone calls made to the hospital went unanswered.
Public hospitals across Lebanon have been in debt with the government unable to pay on time.
The government-run Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut and the Sidon public hospital have gone through similar ordeals of unpaid salaries. Repeated protests and closures eventually led to the government paying employees their paychecks.
