The Department of Health (DOH) is eyeing to offer non-public medical insurance, housing, and scholarships for graduate research to Filipino nurses to handle the longstanding pattern of them going to different nations for increased salaries, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa mentioned Wednesday.
“We are trying to find a way to fund health insurance for them because some of our nurses, pumipila sa MAIP (Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients) because we are not allowed to get them private insurance, other than [state-run] PhilHealth,” Herbosa mentioned in the course of the House appropriations panel listening to on the Health division’s proposed P199 billion price range for 2024.
“We’d like to find a way that we can help them get that private insurance for them and their dependents. And also, maybe even housing [program], so they can stave off this desire to work in other countries,” he added.
While matching the salaries granted to nurses overseas shouldn’t be an possibility for the Philippines, Herbosa mentioned the DOH can also be offering scholarships for acquiring masters and doctoral levels to entice Filipino nurses to work right here.
“[As for] the salaries, we cannot compete [with other countries]. But we can compete with other options, like better career paths. We are [really onto] improving [the] career options for our nurses because after COVID-19, other countries started building facilities and strengthening their health systems, and they want to hire Filipino nurses because Filipino nurses are world class. Mas maalaga (They do their task with loving care),” he identified.
Herbosa mentioned the DOH has round 4,400 unfilled plantilla positions for nurses, and that candidates are onerous to come back by.
“Before, we have a queuing list [of applicants] in hospitals. Now, that list is gone. We have scraped the bottom of the barrel. Recently, there were 10,000 people who passed the nursing board exam, so we hope to fill these [unfilled] items with that,” he mentioned.
House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro then questioned Herbosa as to what’s maintaining DOH from filling in these unfilled positions for nurses when the federal government is already using over 13,000 contractual nurses.
“We have 13,000 contractual nurses and we can’t fill 4,000? I don’t believe nobody from those 13,000 wants to fill that position in,” Castro argued.
Herbosa responded by saying that not all unfilled nursing positions are equal.
“There’s [unfilled posts] for Operating Room Nurse, Intensive Care Unit nurse, Emergency Room nurse. If they don’t like it (what’s available), they will not take it,” he mentioned.
Later within the listening to, Herbosa admitted that the DOH’s plans to make nurses keep are nonetheless unfunded, apart from the medical help program which permits the federal government to rent underboard nurses whereas their assessment price for the board examination is financed by the non-public sector at round P25,000 every.
“If they pass [the board exam after such clinical assistance program], we hire them under Salary Grade 15 [as entry level],” he mentioned.
Salary Grade 15 interprets to a month-to-month wage price P36,600.—AOL, GMA Integrated News
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
