By Brian Jules Campued
The Private Sector Advisory Council – Healthcare Sector Group (PSAC-HSG) disclosed on Thursday that around 300 Clinical Care Associates (CCA) have already been hired in both public and private hospitals as it highlighted the significant strides the Marcos administration has made in addressing nurse shortage in the country.
The Presidential Communications Office said in a statement that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had a meeting with PSAC Health Sector Lead and Ayala Healthcare Holdings, Inc. president and chief executive officer Paolo Borromeo at the Malacañang where the CEO enumerated the “quick wins” of the government that effectively helped increase the number of nurses in the Philippines.
Borromeo updated the President about the CCA program for underboard nursing graduates, the Enhanced Master’s Nursing Program, and the bilateral labor deals with other countries on the training and deployment of Filipino nurses.
He noted that the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has allotted at least P20 million for board reviews of around 1,000 CCAs for this year.
As of Feb. 20, about 304 CCAs have enrolled in hospitals and recruitment would continue for the November 2024 nursing board examination.
Additionally, he said that the PSAC will roll out the CCA program for the 2025 board examination.
“That’s an instant addition to our nursing population. If we are able to fill the seats that Chair Popoy (CHED chairperson Prospero de Vera III) was able to get, that’s a thousand CCAs but now 300 pa lang. A thousand CCAs is not a small number in a country where we graduate about 7,000 to 10,000 nurses a year,” Borromeo told the President.
“So instantly we have a thousand just like that. So I characterized that as a big win and I want to commend Chair Popoy for that,” Borromeo said.
Last year, the PSAC-HSG signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CHED, the Department of Health, and the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc. to facilitate the employment of underboard nursing students under the CCA Upskilling Program.
The program allows said students to become CHED-certified and work as CCAs in healthcare industries, thus creating a pool of eventual licensed nurses to address their scarcity in the country.
Meanwhile, Borromeo said CHED has shortened its three-year Master’s Nursing Program to just one year to make nursing graduates eligible to teach.
PSAC also plans to launch the Enhanced Master’s Nursing Program starting Academic Year 2024-2025 in 16 higher education institutions.
A pilot MOU with the Austrian government that may pave the way for scholarships, faculty support, and “adopt-a-school/hospital” scheme once given approval by the President is also one of the “big win” bilateral labor agreements the Philippines has undertaken.
Other PSAC initiatives also include Underboard Certificate Programs, Balik Nurse Campaign, and the National HRH Masterplan, according to the PCO.
It added that discussions are ongoing between CHED and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) for the Underboard Certificate Program.
The PSAC also intends to explore a pilot launch of the Balik Nurse Campaign in the Middle East but still has to define the program specifics. – avds
