Last Saturday, nurses from the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) held a silent protest to denounce the alleged poor implementation of infection prevention and control measures. They also opposed the payment of their swab test being charged to their PhilHealth. At the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), some medical personnel aired their sentiments regarding delayed benefits.
In a letter, the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) raised its concerns regarding its management having difficulties looking for quarantine facilities for health workers affected by COVID-19. It also appealed for the hospital to be placed under lockdown to give way for disinfection and regular swab testing of health workers.
The Department of Health (DOH) said it has been addressing the concerns one by one.
“Pangalawa, itong mga sinasabi na dapat hindi i-charge sa PhilHealth at dapat bayaran ng ospital, bakit natin hindi icha-charge sa PhilHealth eh mga empleyado sila ng ospital at iyon naman talaga yung protocol (Why won’t we charge it to PhilHealth if they are hospital employees and it is supposed to be the protocol?)” DOH USec. Vergeire responded to the concern of NKTI workers.
The DOH also addressed the POC’s concern, “Alam naman nating hindi ‘yun posible, dahil ito ay isang malaking ospital. Marami rin tayong mga serbisyong kailangang ibigay. Hindi nagkukulang ang mga ospital natin. Kung kailangan talagang ilockdown, nakakapagsara sila ng ibang units of the hospitals so that they can disinfect, they can decontaminate (We know that it is not possible since it is a big hospital. We need to provide many services. Our hospitals are not falling short. If there really is a need to lock down, some units of the hospitals can be closed so that they can disinfect, they can decontaminate),” Vergeire said.
Latest data from the DOH show there are more than 4,400 health workers infected by the virus which resulted in understaffed hospitals. To address the issue, the DOH assured to strengthen its emergency hiring program and is now partnering with institutions to absorb Medicine graduates.
The agency also called on interested applicants to apply through [email protected] and [email protected], or call 651-7800 local 4207.
As of July 27, the country now has 82,040 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 26,446 recoveries, and 1,945 fatalities nationwide. – Report from Mark Fetalco
