Santo Domingo.- The National Union of Nursing Services (Unased) reported that the year 2025 was not favorable for nurses in the Dominican Republic, while demanding that the Government comply in 2026 with the commitments made and which, according to the entity, were not fulfilled by the National Health Service (SNS).
The president of Unased, Sol Amantina Delgadocriticized the dismissal of the nurses who were appointed in 2020 during the Covid-19 health emergency, describing this action as an act of injustice towards those who were on the front line of care during the pandemic.
“Yesterday they were heroines, today they are nothing. The reward they are being given is their separation,” said Delgado.
Disengagement of COVID nurses
As the union leader explained, of the thousands of nurses hired to face the pandemic, only between 300 and 400 remain active nationwidewhile the rest have been dismissed despite having fulfilled their duties and work schedules.
UNASED requires that these professionals be definitively appointed in 2026noting that his departure has worsened the lack of staff in public hospitals.
Hospitals in precarious conditions
Delgado also denounced the deterioration of hospital infrastructure and the “inhumane” conditions in which nurses work in different parts of the country.
He cited as examples the hospitals of Castanet, Dajabón, Villa Vazquez and Cevicos de Cotuíwhere nursing staff work in vans, improvised houses or temporary facilities, while the remodeling works have not been completed for years.
“We have hospitals with four years of renovation that are not finished. The nurses are working in small houses or vans, behind town halls,” he said.
Failure to comply with agreements and lack of dialogue
The president of Unased assured that, although the Government only complied with the staggered salary increase (10% in January 2025, 10% in July 2025 and 5% in January 2026), the other agreed points were not attended to.
Among the main pending demands are the incentive for time in service and distance, not applied since 2015, reclassification of nursing positions, appointment of nurses and pending pensions and retirements.
Delgado denounced that there are more than 2,000 nurses on retirement listbut only 400 were pensionedfailing to comply with the agreements worked with the Retirement and Pensions Directorate.
Furthermore, he criticized that, despite a mobilization in front of the National Palace in September 2025 and the president’s commitment to create a monitoring commission headed by the director of the SNS, Mario LamaAs of December 30, no nursing union has been convened.
Nurses do not rule out protests in 2026
Although he clarified that the union does not want to carry out strikes or mobilizations, Delgado warned that the nurses They do know how to demand their rights in the streets if the Government does not open a real space for dialogue in 2026.
“It was not a good year for nurses. A lot of work, hospitals overcrowded with patients and no real compliance with the agreements,” he concluded.
The National Union of Nursing Services (Unased) reiterated its call to the central Government, the National Health Service and the Ministry of Public Health so that the The year 2026 marks a true advance in the recognition and dignity of nursing personnel in the Dominican Republic.
