DOH: Philippine hospitals, private and public, need 106,000 nurses

The Philippines needs 106,000 nurses both in public and private facilities and hospitals, the Department of Health (DOH) said Thursday.

DOH officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said the country also has a shortage of doctors, pharmacists, radiologic technologists, medical technologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, midwives, and dentists.

“We have a shortage or a gap of around 106,000 para mapunuan natin ‘yung mga facilities natin all over the country, both public and private," Vergeire said of the need for nurses.

"Sa ngayon, meron tayong mga plantilla positions that are still to be filled up sa ating mga ospital,” she added at a press conference.

(We have a shortage or a gap of around 106,000 to fill our facilities all over the country, both public and private. Right now, we have plantilla positions that are still to be filled up in our hospitals.)

“Nananawagan po tayo sa ating mga kababayan na our nurses here in the country, midwives in the country, our dentists, and other healthcare professionals, meron tayong vacant na plantilla positions para ma-hire namin kayo,” Vergeire said.

(We are calling on our countrymen who are nurses, midwives, dentists, or are other healthcare professionals, we have vacant plantilla positions so that we can hire you.)

She urged them to coordinate with the DOH’s Human Resources Bureau so that their documents would be processed.

Migration

Vergeire expressed concern over the migration of healthcare workers to other countries.

She said the DOH wanted to maintain the 7,500 yearly deployment cap.

“Isa po ito sa mga dahilan kung bakit nagkukulang ang mga healthcare workers dito sa ating bansa, specifically doon sa ating mga facilities. This is because of the migration of our healthcare workers,” Vergeire said.

(This is one of the reasons why healthcare workers are lacking here in our country, specifically in our facilities—because of the migration of our healthcare workers.)

“Hanggang sa kulang pa po ang produksyon ng ating bansa sa mga specific healthcare worker professions na ito, sana ‘yung deployment cap natin ay manatili na lang sa ganon,” she added.

(Until the country’s production of workers in these specific healthcare professions is still insufficient, I hope our deployment cap will just stay at that.)

To address this issue, Vergeire said that the DOH was pushing for different bills in the Congress.

She said DOH officials were planning to meet with the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to discuss what incentives could be given to local healthcare workers to encourage them to stay and work in the country. —NB, GMA News