PHAPI head urges hospitals to beef up health staff

PRIVATE hospitals have to increase the number of their nurses by 40 percent to 50 percent to cope with the expected increase Covid-19 cases, according to the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAPI).

In a televised interview, PHAPI President Jose Rene D. de Grano disclosed that additional nurses would help replace the medical staff of private hospitals that resigned in the last two years since the onset of the pandemic.

“Our estimated number of nurses who left [their jobs] is about 40 percent to 50 percent...so if we will be able to double the present number [of nurses], that’s enough,” de Grano said.

Without the additional manpower, de Grano said private hospitals might be forced to reduce their bed capacity, especially if they will be overwhelmed with patients.

“Our problem is if there will be a rise in [Covid-19] cases, then we will have insufficient numbers of healthcare workers, especially the nurses,” de Grano said.

OCTA Research Group projected new daily Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila could rise to as high as 400 to 500 in the coming weeks amid the reported presence of the more infectious subvariants in the region.

Deployment cap

UNLESS the said manpower shortage is addressed, PHAPI said it is supporting the extension of the deployment cap, which was imposed by the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) since last year for several classifications of health-care workers (HCW), including nurses.

The measure aims to ensure the country will have a sufficient pool of HCWS for its Covid-19 response.

“It [deployment cap] should not be excessive to the point that we will run out of nurses here in the country,” de Grano said.

For this year, the deployment cap is pegged at 7,500.

In a virtual news conference last Wednesday, POEA Administrator Bernard P. Olalia disclosed there are still many remaining slots for the deployment cap.

He noted the government might consider increasing it if the deployment cap slots are nearly depleted.

Olalia said the deployment cap would not be automatically lifted even after the state of national health emergency lapses by September.

“The Mission Critical Skills-technical Working Groups [MCS-TWG] will first conduct an assessment to see if the deployment cap could be lifted once there is no longer any state or emergency,” Olalia said.

Delayed release

IN a related development, de Grano called out the Department of Health (DOH) for the slow pace of the distribution of the One Covid-19 Allowance (OCA), which was promised by the government to public and private HCWS.

Last February, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released the P7.92-billion budget for the said initiative, which aims to provide additional financial benefits to pandemic responders in health facilities.

Currently, de Grano said the majority of their members have yet to get the OCA for their workers.

“Out of the P7.9 billion, supposedly only P86 million have been released by DOH,” de Grano said.

He noted the common reason given by DOH for the delayed release of the OCA is the lack of documentary requirements submitted by a hospital.

PHAPI said it hopes all of OCA funds will soon be released since it will help many private hospitals to retain their HCWS.

“These are benefits of our health-care workers, which will encourage them to stay. We hope [the government] will not make it hard for them to get the said benefits,” de Grano said.