DOH eyes private insurance, housing for PH nurses to stem exodus

The Department of Health (DOH) is eyeing to provide private health insurance, housing, and scholarships for graduate studies to Filipino nurses to address the longstanding trend of them going to other countries for higher salaries, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said Wednesday.

“We are trying to find a way to fund health insurance for them because some of our nurses, pumipila sa MAIP (Medical Assistance for Indigent Patients) because we are not allowed to get them private insurance, other than [state-run] PhilHealth,” Herbosa said during the House appropriations panel hearing on the Health department’s proposed P199 billion budget for 2024.

“We’d like to find a way that we can help them get that private insurance for them and their dependents. And also, maybe even housing [program], so they can stave off this desire to work in other countries,” he added.

While matching the salaries granted to nurses abroad is not an option for the Philippines, Herbosa said the DOH is also looking at providing scholarships for obtaining masters and doctoral degrees to entice Filipino nurses to work here.

“[As for] the salaries, we cannot compete [with other countries]. But we can compete with other options, like better career paths. We are [really onto] improving [the] career options for our nurses because after COVID-19, other countries started building facilities and strengthening their health systems, and they want to hire Filipino nurses because Filipino nurses are world class. Mas maalaga (They do their task with loving care),” he pointed out.

Herbosa said the DOH has around 4,400 unfilled plantilla positions for nurses, and that applicants are hard to come by.

“Before, we have a queuing list [of applicants] in hospitals. Now, that list is gone. We have scraped the bottom of the barrel. Recently, there were 10,000 people who passed the nursing board exam, so we hope to fill these [unfilled] items with that,” he said.

House Deputy Minority Leader France Castro then questioned Herbosa as to what is keeping DOH from filling in these unfilled positions for nurses when the government is already employing over 13,000 contractual nurses.

“We have 13,000 contractual nurses and we can’t fill 4,000? I don’t believe nobody from those 13,000 wants to fill that position in,” Castro argued.

Herbosa responded by saying that not all unfilled nursing positions are equal.

“There’s [unfilled posts] for Operating Room Nurse, Intensive Care Unit nurse, Emergency Room nurse. If they don’t like it (what’s available), they will not take it,” he said.

Later in the hearing, Herbosa admitted that the DOH’s plans to make nurses stay are still unfunded, except for the clinical assistance program which allows the government to hire underboard nurses while their review cost for the board exam is financed by the private sector at around P25,000 each.

“If they pass [the board exam after such clinical assistance program], we hire them under Salary Grade 15 [as entry level],” he said.

Salary Grade 15 translates to a monthly salary worth P36,600.—AOL, GMA Integrated News