How the privatization of Iran’s hospitals enables the exploitation of their mostly female work force
Iran’s healthcare system, once touted as a public welfare pillar, operates as a profit-driven industry where military and economic elites wield unchecked influence, research shows. Private owners have taken over more than half of the healthcare institutions in the capital, and their influence around the country is growing. This process traps the healthcare workforce in cycles of exploitation, low pay, and job insecurity, exacerbating a crisis that extends far beyond labor issues.
Taking advantage of opaque privatization processes, institutions like the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Bonyad Shahid (BS) have transformed Iran’s hospitals and clinics into profit-driven hubs, prioritizing financial gain over patient care and workforce welfare. These privatized zones often operate as high-security areas for undisclosed medical activities, conducted with minimal oversight and controlled access.
For Iran’s female healthcare workers, who make up 85% of the nursing workforce, this shift has had devastating consequences. As detailed in Tehran Bureau’s earlier investigation, systemic underpayment, burnout, and dangerous working conditions have worsened under privatization. Nurses, often employed on short-term contracts with no job security, are pushed into mandatory overtime and left struggling to make ends meet. One nurse summed up her experience: “The situation is almost like slavery, and others are forced to endure these stressful and difficult jobs to meet their living needs.”
In the past, informal networks within hospitals supported nurses by fostering solidarity and collaboration, according to a source who worked in a privatized hospital. Some representatives informally advocated for nurses’ interests and raised awareness of their challenges. However, due to increasing pressure from the private sector, such supportive structures have largely disappeared from hospitals today.
To explore the far-reaching effects of privatization on Iran’s healthcare workers, Tehran Bureau has conducted a four-part investigation.
The Rise of Inequality is an overview of how the private sector came to dominate the country’s healthcare system. Privatization’s Power Players details how Iran’s healthcare system fuels elite networks. ‘Almost Like Slavery’ features interviews with women healthcare workers who highlight gender disparities, poor working conditions, and systemic injustices as privatization reshapes the sector. The Dark Side of Care exposes the healthcare institutions that have been turned into torture facilities, and the parastatals that run them.