DOH commits to provide healthier workplace settings for medical staff: Philippines

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On National Health Workers' Day, the Department of Health committed to provide healthcare workers with the benefits and just wages they are due.

The department also recognized the important role they played when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, with Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire saying that their 'efforts and sacrifices are not forsaken' after the World Health Organization recently lifted the global public health emergency status.

'You, our healthcare workers, are the backbone of our health systems, and rest assured, that your Department of Health will continue to provide you with all the support for the betterment of your welfare and service,' Vergeire said in a statement Sunday.

The department also said their efforts are in line with the hope workers will have healthier workplace settings.

There has been concerns over how Philippine healthcare workers are leaving the country for better pay and working conditions overseas, leaving the country's own healthcare system with a manpower shortage.

The DOH in January said that it is proposing to standardize the salaries of healthcare workers in public and private facilities.

There is a discrepancy in wages-for example, nurses working for private hospitals reportedly earn around P12,000 monthly while those in public hospitals take home around P35,000 under Salary Grade 15. This also varies, depending if they work in the metro or in provinces.

Filipino Nurses United has called on the government to increase the basic salary of nurses in both public and private hospitals to P50,000 to encourage nurses to serve in the Philippines.