The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) is facing a staffing crisis as some of its healthcare workers are getting sick while other volunteer doctors opt to quit, a PGH spokesperson said on Monday (Sept. 13).
“Talagang nararamdaman namin ‘yung problema namin sa manpower. A lot of our healthcare workers are getting sick also. Marami na ring pagod at some are also exposed to the virus so they have to undergo the mandatory quarantine,” Dr. Jonas Del Rosario said in an interview with ANC.
According to the spokesperson, 11 out of 25 PGH volunteer doctors from the Department of Health (DOH) decided not to renew their contracts as some of them had to pursue their subspecialty.
“Malaking tulong po sila, ito pong mga DOH volunteer. We had 25 over the course of a year. Laking pasasalamat namin sa mga DOH volunteer na ito. These are mostly general medical doctors who volunteered and they got salary pay from DOH,” Del Rosario said.
To augment the PGH workforce and boost its capacity, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a public briefing on Monday that the DOH continues to recruit volunteer medical professionals.
“Patuloy po ang recruitment ng ating DOH para sa mga medical professionals na either volunteer or magsusuweldo po. Ang mabuting balita po ay marami naman po tayong mga bagong graduates, mga bagong pasang nurses,” Roque said.
“Pagdating naman po sa mga doktor, ginagawa natin ang lahat para magsipag-tapos iyong ating mga doktor at magkaroon ng examination para hindi po tayo maubusan ng mga doktor,” Roque added. – CF-rir
