Amid COVID-19 Crisis, DOH Will Be Hiring 857 Additional Health Care Workers
DOH HIRING 857 – As the Philippines continues its battle against COVID-19, the number of health care workers became overwhelmed.
Currently, the Philippines has one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases among ASEAN countries. This, despite the absence of mass testings.
Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte stated yesterday night that the DOH would hire health workers on a contractual setup. Furthermore, the workers would be deployed to COVID-19 referral hospitals namely:
- Lung Center of the Philippines
- Philippine General Hospital
- Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Hospital
According to an article by ABS-CBN, Duterte’s report stated the majority of health care workers are nurses at 267. Additionally, about 204 nursing attendants and 118 ward assistants are to be hired.
Moreover, the health care workforce would also include 85 respiratory therapists and 82 medical officers. Other health care workers up for hire are 36 ambulance drivers, 35 radiologic technologists, and 30 medical equipment technicians.
As per the article, hiring of the new healthcare workers would cost the DOH around P35.82 million per month. Furthermore, this would be charged to their budget.
Yesterday, the health department also stated that they would deploy more than 300 volunteer laboratory workers. They would be used to supplement its manpower such as medical technologists, molecular biologists, lab techs, and researchers.
The news comes in line with the Philippines preparing to launch its mass testing initiative. With this, the DOH plans to conduct 8,000 to 10,000 tests per day by the end of April.
As of Monday, the number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines had risen to 4,932 making it one of the highest among ASEAN countries. Of this number, 315 have died while 242 had recovered.
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